Dusk
by InsaneGrizzlies
Summary: Bella was changed three years ago, and "joined" the Volturi. When she's sent to Forks, she finds not everything was how she thought it to be, and discovers a whole new way to life. But of course trouble won't wait for long.... AU. Finished!
1. Ch 1 Reminiscence

-1**AN: Hey! Thank you, first off, for taking time from your busy (or maybe not-so busy! XD) schedules and lives to read my fan fiction! In case you didn't notice already, this is, I guess, an AU about, duh, Twilight. I'm not sure too much where I'm going with this, but I have a vague idea, so I hope it works! (once my friends find out I'm writing another Twilight FF, they're gonna badger me constantly again, but I love them for it.) **

**Anyways, see, Bella and her mom went to Europe three years ago and Bella was changed. Through a series of circumstances you will read about, she "joined" (maybe a better word would be drafted…XD) the Volturi. She is in Forks on a "job", and I'll bet you can guess who's there! So, what happens? Is _this_ Bella able to fall in love with Edward? Or will he even want to fall in love with her? (gasp! XD If not, I'll take him! lawl) Oh, and Dusk is the title because it is an alternate word for Twilight. Like how this is _alternate_ universe… yeah, I'm a dork. I know.**

**So, enjoy! Let me know what you think, and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is cool (I just have a hard time taking it face to face… but please, don't hesitate to tell me how I might be able to improve!) and I LOVE reviews… they make me soo happy, and I tend to update a LOT faster. Plus, they tend to keep me WANTING to write, which is, ya know, good for the readers, YOU. **

**Sorry this is so long, I tend to blab when I get going. I'll try to keep these things to a minimum (like Uh-hum's, Yeah's, and such. I'm taking a Linguistics class… it's soo fun!!!) so… enough on my part! Again, Enjoy! Bibliocrazed**

I sat on the plane, reflecting as I watched the world rush by below, so much smaller than it seemed when you were down there, part of it.

Three years ago, I'd just been visiting Europe with my mom, Renee; she wanted to "see the sights" before she married Phil and settled down. We'd not been there long, maybe a few days, when it happened. It was dark, and we'd gone out to see the city - I could never remember where, exactly - at night… It'd been the last thing we'd done together. All I could clearly remember from that night was the fear, the terror, the screaming… the pain. I shuddered away mentally from _those_ memories, the ones that were terribly, nightmarishly clear.

When I'd woken up, I didn't remember much of anything, didn't know where I was or what had happened. Peter, the one who'd changed me, just barely explained everything, only enough for me to know that my mom was dead and I was now what would be commonly referred to as _un_dead. I was a vampire. Panicking, I tried to run away that night, when Peter was out, but he caught up to me quickly. It surprised me when I almost fought him off; I had never been strong or, well… I'd always thought I was the clumsiest person on the planet. But apparently, I was the clumsiest _human_ on the planet. Being a vampire turned that around 180 degrees.

And then, out of no where, I'd lost control of my body; without my telling it to, it stopped moving, then followed Peter back to the old, dilapidated building he was staying in. A few weeks later, there were others, none of whom had tried to run away as I had - actually, they seemed perfectly content to stay and settle for this hand we'd been unwillingly given. I wasn't. Nearly every night, sometimes even during the day, I'd tried to sneak away; and more times than I could count Peter had brought me back, always through the same means as the first time in the end. Undoubtedly, I was a frustration to him, though I had no idea why, at the time.

It was another one of those days when I was trying to escape that they appeared.

Rain was pattering heavily on the roof, echoing loudly through the dead-quiet house. I was sneaking - again - through the halls of peeling paint and dust when I'd turned a corner… and there they were.

I remember feeling immense relief at the sight of them, despite their uncanny beauty and blood red eyes. I was hoping they would help me.

"Please," I whispered in a cracked voice, barely audible to my own ears. "Help me. I don't want to be here… he won't let me go. Help. Please."

The three of them looked at me with varying degrees of disgust and pity.

"Are there others?" one with dark long, wavy hair asked me; I knew now that he was Demetri.

I nodded. "Yes. Please, are you going to help?" I felt slightly pathetic, even as I asked, for sounding so helpless and weak.

They didn't answer my question. Instead, the big, muscled one - Felix - ordered, "Show us."

I led them to the large room in the middle of the house, where there were pieces of furniture that were falling apart, covered with white sheets stained gray from the dust. About five others, all varying in age and appearance, sat around staring blankly at walls and the floor. I whispered to the three again.

"I tried to talk to some of them, but they don't _do_ anything. Just sit and stare. Until Peter," my voice had trembled as I said his name, "comes and then they just do stuff without him saying anything."

Demetri had nodded, but then, out of no where, Peter was trying to run past us. The last figure, a small little girl who put a Botticelli angel to shame, had stepped forward.

Peter had fallen to the ground, screaming and wailing, clutching his head. The other vampires he'd changed abruptly jumped to action, attacking the three. I watched, wide-eyed and amazed, as they were dealt with the other newborns quickly and efficiently. At one point, two had ganged up on Demetri, and another tried sneaking up behind. I reacted on an impulse - the three were my only chance of making it out, as I saw it - and attacked her. She acted almost robotically, her movements somewhat stiff and her eyes blank. My fear probably played a role in what I did, and soon she was on the ground, torn apart. I remember staring at my own hands in disbelief. Then the little girl - Jane - had turned her eyes on me. Demetri and Felix watched, almost expectantly, then all three frowned in confusion. Jane's expression turned murderous, and I feared she would tear me to shreds as she had Peter and the others. But when she stepped forward, probably to do so, Demetri held out an arm to stop her. He spoke quickly and lowly enough that I didn't hear, but that Felix and Jane, who were right next to him, did. Then he stepped forward.

"You have two choices. You can come with us to Volterra, and meet our Master, or you can suffer the same fate as them." He gestured to the remains of the others. I looked at them, then at the three vampires. Their bright red eyes all watched me unwaveringly.

"Lead the way." I said in a soft voice.

Volterra, Italy, was like nothing I'd ever seen before; which, at the time, didn't really mean much since I didn't remember any other place very clearly. The three led me through the night down twisting alleys and dark side streets until we reached a dead-end. There, we slid down a hole in the street. Jane led the way, Demetri next to me, Felix behind. They moved at an awe-inspiring speed, which made me realize that _I _could move just as fast without really thinking about it. At the time, I'd though, _it appears that Peter didn't tell me much of anything about this whole vampire thing._

They'd led me past a pretty, small, red-haired and blue-eyed receptionist, obviously human. I remember the sudden feeling of need and thirst that swept over me, and the sweet scent of her blood, a sugary vanilla smell. I stopped, unaware of the fact, and stared at her as she typed away at a computer, oblivious. Felix and Demetri both grabbed my arms, and, after pulling sharply and whispering lowly that if I didn't follow them, they'd take me outside and kill me then and there, I looked away. With an effort, I pulled myself away from the tantalizing scent and followed them to an elevator. Once we were moving up and I'd managed to replace the smell in my nose with fresh air, I was appalled by what I'd been thinking… of what I'd wanted to do.

Three men, obviously vampires by their pale, feathery, almost translucent skin, met us in a small, round room with thrones at one end. They all wore long, sweeping black cloaks; two had long black hair that blended into their cloaks, and the other had snowy white hair.

One of the ones with long black hair stepped forward, brushing hands with Demetri. Then he looked me up and down appraisingly.

"Jane," he said quietly, still staring at me, "Try again, why don't you."

The little girl focused her gaze on me, glaring viciously when a few minutes passed and nothing happened. I looked around with confusion.

"Ha, ha! That's interesting. I wonder…" he trailed off, then brushed hands with me. I froze, wanting to flinch away and at the same time wanting to know if his skin was as soft as it looked. After a few moments, he frowned, too, looking angry, then his expression cleared. "Ha!"

Privately, I thought he was a few French fries short of a Happy meal, but if he was the one deciding if I lived or died… who was I to judge?

"I, my dear, am Aro. The two behind me are Marcus and Caius; the three with you are Jane, Demetri, and Felix. We are the Volturi. It is our job to keep tabs on the vampires in this world, make sure thy don't do anything that would reveal us to humans. I can give you two options… you can join us, or you can be killed."

I blinked. In my opinion, that wasn't two options, it was an ultimatum. Which meant I didn't exactly _have _a choice, now, did I?

I shrugged. "Well, I guess I'm now part of the Volturi, too."

Aro smiled. "Good. Time to start your training, then."

"Please put on your seatbelts, we will be landing shortly." said the pleasant female voice over the intercom. I vaguely wondered how much they paid her to stand around, help rude passengers, and say the same thing over and over again. I put on my seatbelt for the benefit of the old smiling woman next to me, who sent a kind glance my way. Inwardly I sighed; it wasn't likely that a plane crash would kill me. I could always just jump out before it hit the ground and stumble around like the luckiest survivor in history.

The plane began it's decent into the sprawling green landscape of Washington. Already, my mind was thinking ahead to the job I was sent here on, planning how best to go about it and when I would likely be able to go back to Volterra.

With a few bumps and skids, the plane touched down, and soon everyone was loading off. The woman sent one last kind smile my way before disappearing into the crowd. I paused briefly at the edge of things, adjusting to the bombardment of delicious smells heading my way.

_Focus!_ I reminded myself. _You can do this._

Glancing around, I stepped into the crowd, heading to the parking area. My only luggage was a carry-on bag; it was all I needed. Sweeping the area, I smiled as I saw the perfect one. Moving at an agonizingly slow pace, I walked straight to the sleek light black BMW Z9, then picked the lock and hot-wired it. It purred to life, making me grin. Barely looking around, I pulled off and sped recklessly down the highway to Forks. The thought of my father's hometown made me laugh - reckless in Forks; a rather hopeless proposition.

Well… I did love a challenge.

**So… how was it? Let me know and I'll update as soon as you guys want me to (that is possible for me!) Press the little button whom I named Frank! I swear, he doesn't bite! (unlike my purple flying dancing monkeys!) Laughs and hugs! **


	2. Ch 2 School

-1**Ok, so I didn't get barely any reviews on the first chapter… but that **_**could**_** be because I put it up in the middle of the night. -**_**shrugs**_**- Eh. So here is chapter two, and I hope I get more feedback. I'd like to thank barbiedoll123 for her review, and everyone who added me on the alert/favs list. (I saw you INVX, my psycho buddy in VA!) Well, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!**

I was in a hotel in Port Angeles, lying on the uncomfortable bed on my stomach, staring blankly in front of me. My Blackberry Pearl sat in front of me, motionless.

All I really knew was that Aro wanted me here, in this dreary, mushy-green town, because of some other family that he felt was a threat to him. I rolled my eyes again at that. _Stupid, paranoid old vampire._

But that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge. For some reason, he didn't want me to go in guns blazing like usual. I frowned and chewed the inside of my lip as I recalled what he'd said.

_"Isabella! I need you to go to the States for me."_

_I glanced up from my book, then said. "Sure. Just say who and where. They won't make it three days after I get there."_

_He shook his head quickly. "Oh, no. Not this time. For this, I need you to be far less obvious. It's a large family, we're the only ones larger than they are, and they're strong. This isn't like when I usually send any of you to the States. This is different."_

_I frowned, truly confused now. "Different, how, exactly?"_

_Again, he shook his head. "Oh, don't worry about that now. Just be ready to go tonight." He turned and swept from the room, lack cloak billowing behind him. _

_I watched for a moment, then groaned and got up. Heidi met me half-way down the hall. _

_"Oh, hi Bella. I take it Aro got to you?" _

_I nodded. _

_She looked, oddly enough, concerned. "Well, it won't be easy."_

_I shook my head, getting frustrated. "Why?"_

_She paused, looked around to see if anyone was nearby, then leaned close and whispered, "Because they're… unusual. Different. Aro's afraid they might soon be able to withstand _us_. That's why he's sending you."_

_She pulled away; I was even more confused. "Uh… okay."_

So here I was, locked inside, because no one saw fit to let me know anything before I went in.

With a sigh, I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling. A few more hours passed.

Finally my Blackberry started vibrating, and I sat up on the bed, grabbing it and opening the new file.

**Cullens.**

**Carlisle Cullen: Doctor at Forks only hospital, blond, gold eyes, no power**

I blinked at the last part, thinking it had to be a mistake. How could he have _gold _eyes?

**Esme Cullen: Mate to Carlisle. Caramel hair, gold eyes, no power.**

**Emmett Cullen: "Adopted son" to Esme and Carlisle, dark curly hair, gold eyes, no power, attends Forks High School as senior.**

**Rosalie Hale: "Niece" to Esme - "Adopted", mate to Emmett, blond, gold eyes, no power, attends Forks High School as senior.**

**Jasper Hale: "twin brother" to Rosalie - "Adopted", blond, gold eyes, can sense and control emotions, attends Forks High School as senior.**

The next name was highlighted in red, meaning I had to watch out and be on guard for them.

**Alice Cullen: "adopted daughter" to Esme and Carlisle, mate to Jasper, black short hair, gold eyes, can see things that may/may not happen - psychic, attends Forks High School as junior.**

Well… that would make things interesting. I glanced down; the last one was in red also.

**Edward Cullen: "Adopted son" to Esme and Carlisle, red-brown hair, gold eyes, reads minds, attends Forks High School as junior. **

I stared at that for a long time.

"Well, damn." I said out loud to no one. "Don't make this easy or anything!" I threw the phone across the room. Damn Aro and his stupid paranoia. I still didn't see why he couldn't just tell me all this before now. It would have made it a lot easier; now I was going to have to think through everything a whole lot quicker.

Then I took a deep breath to calm myself. I would just have to make sure to keep my power going at all times. That way, the psychic one couldn't see me and the mind-reader couldn't hear me. Hell, the empathic one wouldn't even be able to sense any emotions from me unless I let him. I thought it all over a little longer. I would probably have to let him sense just the top-most emotions, otherwise they might get suspicious. Everyone had told me not to underestimate them, and I wasn't planning on it.

Across the room, my Blackberry vibrated again. I watched it for a few seconds - I had a feeling I was going to really hate it by the end of this job - then got up and grabbed it. Aro had sent another file.

**Isabella: **

**We have enrolled you in Forks High School as a junior. You start tomorrow. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPROACH THEM. You are to wait until we give the word. For now you are just to watch them and inform us of their habits, actions, ext. We expect a report at the end of the week.**

I stared at the little contraption again with shock. They enrolled me in _school_?! I hadn't been in school for nearly four years! With an irritated _humph!_ I plopped down on the bed again, glancing at the clock. I had nine hours before I had to go to…_school_.

I couldn't remember much from my human life, and want I did remember had taken me ages to dig up from the dark recesses of my mind. All I remembered about school was that it was rather a rather boring, uncomfortable affair. I knew I had been smart and I still remembered much of the things I'd been taught - which meant they must have been pounded into my mind - but the people, the place… it was all in shadow. I must not have been attached to anyone, or the place itself, because they didn't stand out at all.

Sitting up again, I grabbed my purse and went to the car I'd picked up a few hours after I got here. It was mine, from Volterra, had been sent here privately, and was pretty much my favorite possession. The sleek black exterior was inconspicuous of the speed. The 2008 Brabus Bullit Black Arrow could reach 225 miles per hour, and we'd tweaked it a bit… so it _could_ go even faster. It didn't look flashy, so it was a good car to use, unlike my other cars.

I drove out of Port Angeles, to Seattle, and then walked into a clothes store. If I was going to have to go to school, I'd need to get a few more outfits. People would notice if I wore nearly the same thing every week. Shopping was the usual drab affair of finding something and buying it, and then I was back to the hotel.

I'd managed to waste a whole two and a half hours.

I read over the information again, committing it to memory. Apparently, there weren't any pictures of them available, so I'd just have to wait and see. It wasn't like they'd be hard to spot, being vampires and all.

My mind turned again to their eye color. Gold. How did they manage that? Contacts? I doubted it; I'd used every color of contacts imaginable to come with the closest color to human eyes and never found any that made me eyes look gold. It was a mystery I was finding annoying and decided to solve as soon as possible.

My blackberry vibrated again, and I picked it up, wondering what they wanted now.

Heidi had sent me a text.

Bella don't forget that you will be surrounded by humans all day at the school. I know you didn't feed again before you left. Do so now before the thing starts.

I sighed, knowing she was right. Quickly, I texted back saying I was going now, and slipped outside. I wandered the streets of Port Angeles, watching out for the perfect prey. A myriad of scents bombarded my nose, and I traveled to the slummier parts of the tourist-y town. After about half an hour, a group of guys rounded the corner, laughing uproariously. I could clearly smell that one of them was drunk, the other high, but the last two were sober. Still, when their eyes fell on me, I could see what they were thinking as clearly as if _I_ could read minds.

"Hey there."

I glanced at them, smiled seductively, but didn't say anything and just rounded the corner behind them. I distinctly heard two of them follow me. I let them herd me towards where the other two were waiting, a few blocks from a busy intersection. I paused between them.

"Hey, sugar." called one, with short black hair and completely sober.

I smiled at him. "I'm not sugar. You're the snack."

He looked confused, but the other one quickly took over, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

"Come on, sweet. We just want to have a little fun."

I grinned, letting loose the monster within, knowing it would look predatory. "Oh, trust me. I'll have fun."

Faster than they thought possible, I was out of his arms and snapping his neck. The other sober one started to run, but I reached him as if he was standing still, grabbing him by the shoulders and lifting his neck to my mouth, leaving him a few inches off the ground. I fed quickly, tasting his blood - not really sweet, but still sating - as it slid down my throat and coated my tongue. Vaguely, I was aware of the two with the poisoned blood running off. It didn't matter; I wasn't going to feed from them, anyways. Finished with the one at my mouth, I dropped him, and moved on to the other. His blood had cooled slightly, and I drank from him quickly and efficiently. I looked at the remains of my meal; I couldn't just leave them here, where anyone could find them. The Volturi had taught me better. So I tore the bodies to unrecognizable pieces and then threw them in a dumpster. Let the cops make what they could of that.

I ran back to the hotel, and glanced at myself in the full-length mirror. I didn't look too much a mess, but would have to change anyways. I glanced at the clock. Three hours left. I took my time, luxuriating in a bubble bath for a long while, enjoying the scalding warmth of the water against my frigid skin, then washed my hair and got out. I used a blow-dryer, brushing my hair until it was almost-straight, then dressed in a shirt and jeans, throwing on a heavy sweatshirt over it. I grimaced as I did so; the wet and cold weren't my thing. I preferred the dry and hot. Then I glanced at the clock. I figured if I drove slowly, I wouldn't get there too early.

I laughed as I left the hotel room. I doubted I would be able to resist from driving fast when I was on the road, but I could always try. People did it all the time, right? It couldn't be that hard.

As I drove along the freeway to Forks, my fingers twitched and tapped against the wheel impatiently. Okay, I was wrong; driving slow was _very_ hard. I let a burst of air out from my lips, feeling my attention wander. I was still rather in the dark about these Cullens. There was the mystery of their gold eyes, of why Aro felt threatened by them, and of why they were enrolled in _school_. Wasn't it hard not to hunt the kids that surrounded them? I knew I'd probably have a hard time, but I'd been trained by Aro, Marcus, and Caius until I was one of the best, and knew how to practice discipline on myself.

Finally, I pulled up to the Forks High School, which wasn't hard to find being right off the freeway. The buildings were brick and situated more like a bunch of cottages or something than any of the schools I'd seen when I'd visited the South. There were no fences, no institutional feeling. I pulled up in front of a building marked as the Office, though I doubted I'd be able to stay parked there. With a heavy sigh, I turned off the music I'd had playing in the car - Muse - and opened the door. Pulling my hood tightly around my face, I hurried, at a human pace, to the door, pulling it open and slipping inside.

A somewhat large, unnaturally red-haired woman wearing a purple shirt sat behind a counter at a desk, shuffling papers.

"Hi," I said quietly. She looked up, startled. "I'm new here… Isabella Swan?" She continued to stare, open-mouthed. I resisted the urge to sigh impatiently. After two minutes had passed, I raised my brow.

"Oh!" she said, coming back from wherever her mind had taken vacation. "Let me get your schedule for you…" She rummaged around in a teetering stack of papers and withdrew one from somewhere in the middle; it swayed precariously. "Here's your schedule." She opened a drawer and pulled out a small, blurred map of the school. "And here's a map." She began tracing paths of where I'd have to go on the paper, and I tuned her out. This place was so small, I doubted I'd get lost; I'd have to be blind and drunk to get lost here.

"Get this slip signed by all your teachers and bring it back at the end of the day." She smiled. "I hope you enjoy it here at Forks."

I smiled slightly back. "Oh, I'm sure I will." She didn't hear the dryness in my tone cause she just smiled again.

Shoving the slip into the back pocket of my jeans, I went back outside and followed a trail of cars to the student parking lot. Most of them were beat up and old, which made my car stand out, if only a little. The only one nearly as nice as mine was a shiny sliver Volvo. And I had a feeling that the Cullens owned it. Sure enough, as I parked, they stepped out and, without glancing around at the students, walked out to their classes.

With a sigh, I blocked all powers from having affect on me. It hadn't taken long when I first joined the Volturi for them to realize that none of their powers could work on me if they dealt with the mind, and that I could block the ones that didn't if I focused on doing so. The problem? It usually gave me a head-ache after a while and I grew irritable. Which meant I wanted to get this job over and done with fast.

I stepped out of my car; the whispers started up immediately.

"_Hey, who's that?"_

_"Wow, she's _hot_."_

_"Is she related to the Cullens?"_

_"I hope that I have class with her."_

_"Five bucks says she -"_

_"I'm going to ask her-"_

I blocked out the sound of their voices, all their petty concerns and lives, and walked to the first class marked on the schedule I'd been given. English.

I paused outside the door as two unisex coats walked past me inside and took and deep breath. I could do this. It was just school…

Rolling my eyes at myself, I pulled the door open and stepped inside.

Every, single eye turned to focus on me; it was actually a little unnerving. Ignoring them, I stepped over to where the teacher stood. He took the slip, signed it, then handed it back to me without another word. I took a seat at the back of the classroom, hoping to avoid the stares. Somehow, though, they all managed to still look back at me. Mr. Mason, the teacher, handed out a packet with the name of books for the class. I glanced at them all and sighed. I'd already read them all - what else was there to do when there wasn't a job and one couldn't sleep?

Finally, _finally_, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. I started packing up the things I'd taken out when a greasy black haired boy with a poor complexion leaned across the aisle towards me. He looked like the overly-helpful, chess club type. "Hey, Isabella, right?"

"Bella," I corrected automatically with a grimace. I wasn't afraid of people recognizing me as Charlie's daughter; he'd died shortly before Renee and Phil had gotten engaged. And the human mind often forgot things like the fact that their former police chief from about four and a half years ago had a daughter named Isabella.

"I'm Erik." He held out his hand, and I reluctantly shook it. "Where's your next class?"

"Um," I paused, thinking. "Government with Jefferson in building six."

His eyes lit up. "Really? Well, I'm in building four, I could show you the way…?"

Oh yeah, definitely over helpful.

I smiled politely. "Oh, that's fine. I can find the way."

His face fell and I turned away, smirking slightly. _Poor, poor human boy._

The next thing I knew, he followed me to the building anyways. _Scratch that - he's an _annoying_ human boy._

"So… why are you so pale? Are you related to the Cullens?"

"No." I said. Then, as a second thought, I added, "My mother is part albino."

He stared at me with wide eyes, and I inwardly scoffed. _Annoying, gullible human!_

He paused at his building, especially when I gave him a stern look as he took another step towards me.

Trigonometry was the only class I had to stand up in and introduce myself. The teacher, Mr. Varner, seemed to think he knew everything there ever was to know about math; I already knew most of it, I realized. A few months ago, I'd gotten bored and taken an online math class that had been way harder than this. There was a girl in that class and in the Spanish class I was in that immediately started talking to me. She was short with curling black hair and _never shut up_. I let her blab, nodding now and then, knowing she wouldn't realize I wasn't paying attention. We entered the lunch room, her still blabbing, and I followed her blindly, grabbing random objects of food before sitting at a table with her. She quickly introduced everyone, and I immediately forgot their names; it didn't matter to me, because I wasn't going to be there long. I sat down, and tuned out the noise of their chatter, staring blankly around the lunchroom.

And that was the first time I saw them.

**Ha! This is longer than the first chapter, but still a little slow, I know. We have to get through the boring stuff first, though, so you know about Bella and her life so far. Let me know if I can improve or what you like or what's confuzzling. L&H**


	3. Ch 3 Cullens

**Here it is!! Chapter 3! Ok, so, for those of you who want to, I've put pics (like of the cars or people) on my profile. Somewhere. I think it's under quotes from my friends and I, or under little blurbs about them. Before the C&P's. Yeah. My friends, Ana and Batgirl, wanted me to put them up cause they have troubles imagining people/things without a REAL LIVE person to compare/place them to. -shrugs- Eh. So they're there. (I enjoyed looking for the cars, though. That was kinda fun.)  
Anyways, here it is. I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and thanks to my reviewers! You guys are my reason for writing!**

They all sat alone at a table, in the corner of the lunch room. All five of them weren't talking, though they had a tray of untouched food in front of them. It was obvious that they were vampires - pale, beautiful, and unnaturally graceful. They were looking away - from each other, from the other students, from anything in particular. As I stared, one - tall leonine, blond - muttered something. "I know that."

The small girl next to him stood, threw away her tray -unopened soda, unbitten apple - and walked swiftly away, out of the room. I placed her as the psychic, Alice. My eyes flickered back to the rest. The blond who'd spoken had to be Jasper, her mate, the emotion senser. I moved on to the next. he was even more bulkier than the other, muscled like a serious weight lifter, even more so than Felix, with curly black hair - Emmett. Which meant... my eyes slid to the blond girl. She reminded me of Heidi, though they looked nothing alike. It was just that both had that gorgeous beauty that was almost hard to look at, impossible to really forget. She was statuesque and had a body you saw on the front of an airbrushed swimsuit magazine. Her golden hair waved to the middle of her back, and she was tall; every girl here probably took a hit on her self esteem just by being in the same room. Rosalie.

My eyes slipped, with a reluctance that neared boredom, to the final one. Compared to the other two males, he was lanky , less bulky, and boyish; the others looked like they could be teachers or in college. His untidy hair - _not red-brown... bronze, _I thought- fell across his forehead. Long, slim fingers slowly pulverized a bagel to pieces.

"Bella," said the girl - Jessica, I vaguely recalled - irritably. "What are you looking at?" Turning, she followed my gaze... just as the bronze haired bay, who _had_ to be the mind-reader, Edward, glanced our way, I dropped my gaze to my tray, examining the muffin there with feigned intense interest.

Jessica - annoying thing she was - giggled. "Edward Cullen is staring at us." she whispered.

"It's impolite to stare." I said pointedly, for both their benefits. He would hear me.

"Oh, he can stare all he wants." She giggled again. I vaguely wondered if she'd still be giggling if she knew what he was. Faintly, I heard a soft chuckle.

She sighed. "He's gorgeous, of course, but doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear and obvious case of sour grapes. My lips twitched in amusement and I wondered when he'd turned her down.

Smirking slightly at what I was about to do - and I really had no clear idea why - I shrugged. "Maybe he's gay." I suggested with polite innocence.

Jessica stared, wide-eyed and open mouthed. I head a strangled laugh; from the corner of my eye, I could see the big bear one trying not to laugh, and pretty much failing, while the bronze mind-reader glared at him. Again, my lips twitched, too fast for anyone to catch. I glanced back and saw the whole table staring. With a roll of my eyes, I muttered "I guess clouds and a sense of humor don't mix." None of the humans heard me, and I kept my voice low enough that neither would the coven across the room.

Eventually, they left; I sat at the human-filled table for a long time, staring out a window at the rainy scenery. A quiet shy girl from the table accompanied me to biology. She reminded me her name was Angela, but other than that kept quiet. I was grateful; I could feel a migraine starting at the back of my head and I was 99.9 percent sure it had been brought on prematurely by Jessica's non-stop chattering.

We entered the room -once again becoming the center of attention - and I moved to hand my slip to Mr. Banner, the teacher. He didn't give me any nonsense about introductions, just handed me a book and pointed to an empty seat... the only empty seat.

Right next to the Cullen mind-reader.

_So much for not approaching them_, I thought dryly.

Three things happened rather quickly then. I stepped under the vent of the heater; he stiffened, eyes darkening to black; I sat down and his scent swirled around me.

It was sweet, intoxicating, and I was struck with the sudden, insane urge to lean closer and let it saturate my lungs.

I positively, absolutely _hated_ it.

If he had been human, I knew I wouldn't have been able to resist killing him. The fact that I had fed recently wouldn't have mattered. I would have killed him and damn the consequences; his scent was that alluring. I leaned as far away as the table would allow. From the corner of my eye, I saw him doing the same, face twisted with hate. It didn't mean anything to me except that it put more space between us, something I desperately wanted - no, _needed_. I refused to breathe.

The class dragged on longer than the rest. I didn't know if it was because of the way this teacher taught, because the day was almost over, of whether it was because I was waiting for the chance to rid myself of his scent. At the moment, I didn't really care. I glared sideways at the clock as the red second hand slowly clicked around the circular face. As if of their own accord, my eyes peeked at him; I was met with a black, hate-filled glare. That was perfectly fine with me, so I glared right back.

_Stupid, bronze-haired mind-reader. _

The bell rang; he was up and out of his seat before anyone else was out of their seat. I moved more slowly, not wanting to risk alerting the humans to anything unnatural, but was right up front of the crowd heading out. Finally away from his scent, I breathed in the wet, cold, fresh air deeply.

"Hi! I'm Mike Newton. What's your next class?"

Not even a baby-faced, pale blond human boy could ruin my relief just yet at being away from the awful scent.

"Gym."

"Hey, me too!" Luck wasn't on my side today, was it? "So... did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."

I thought of all the answers I could give to such a question, and all would give me different reactions from the sure to be annoying human.

"Or what." I answered, and quickly slipped into the girls' locker room.

Gym was boring - the coach didn't make me participate, so I just sat and watched the humans play volleyball. If I could have, I would have fallen asleep. We were dismissed and I hurried to the office, already tired of the "playing human" game. It was a horrible dull affair with no benefits that I could see.

When I stepped into the office, I almost walked right back out. Even though I immediately stopped breathing, faint traces of the scent were already there. He was arguing quietly and persuasively with the purple-shirt lady behind to desk, from this morning. I easily picked up what about - sixth hour biology.

Another girl stepped in, allowing the cold wind to whip inside, placed a slip in a basket, and stepped back out. the mind-reader stiffened, turning slowly to glare at me; I couldn't stop the glare I sent back. Muttering something like "never mind", he rushed out. I handed my slip to the older human woman and mindlessly answered a question she asked, then stepped out.

The parking lot was nearly empty, and completely devoid of any silver Volvo's. I walked to my Arrow, stepping in and slamming the door behind me.

"Stupid, shiny Volvo-owner." I muttered under my breath.

I sped off down the highway to Port Angeles, fighting away the memory of his intoxicating, hated scent the whole way.

This was going to be a _long_ job, wasn't it?

* * *

_LATER_

I banged my head against the desk in my hotel room. Ten days of monotonous torture. That's what school really was -torture. I was _so_ getting Aro back for this.

I'd watched the Cullens every moment I could. They sure didn't do much. arrive at school, not talk to anyone, answer direct questions from teachers, sit at the same table, go home... that pretty much covered it. Once, I ran after their car and found the place they were staying: a gorgeous, three-story Victorian mansion in the middle of the forest outside of Forks.

And the mystery of their gold eyes remained unsolved.

The bronze haired one hadn't shown up since that time in the office, ten days ago. I wasn't complaining - it meant his hated scent wasn't anywhere near me - except Aro wanted to know why I had even less to say about him than the others, and I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him. I had a feeling it wouldn't play out in my favor. The less Aro knew about me, personally, the better.

**So, we learn a couple things about Bella in this chapter, like how she views things and howshedislikesAro. I would greatly appreciate reviews, lovlies! click on Frank, down there. He won't bite. That's a job for the dancing, flying, evil purple monkeys. L&H**


	4. Ch 4 Biology

\/p>

-1**Okay, so I'm glad you're all enjoying this (as far as I can tell from reviews). A little of this chapter is going to be in Edward's POV, and I apologize for the suckiness of it. I find him particularly difficult to write (because he tends to think in a way I have trouble writing). But I kind of have to do this, otherwise the next couple chapters might not make complete sense. **

**Anyhoodles… Laughs and Hugs!**

EPOV

I couldn't get the new girl, who also happened to be a vampire, out of my mind. Why couldn't I hear her thoughts? Could she block them, and, if she were human, would I still be unable to hear them? And what was she doing in Forks, alone, and obviously on a traditional diet from the deep violet of her eyes? It all made no sense. Alice hadn't seen her coming, which was unusual. 

I was seated in biology, another one of the boring classes. I doubted Mr. Banner could teach me, with two medical degrees, anything I didn't already know. It was one of the ones I went through the most mindlessly. 

The door opened, and in stepped Angela and Bella, the new girl. Her face and name had occupied most of the student body this morning - it took so little to work them all up - but I hadn't thought much of her arrival… until lunch that is. Now she was consuming _my_ thoughts. 

"_Yes!" _Mike Newton thought triumphantly. I rolled my eyes at that, but couldn't help but watch her walk gracefully to the teacher. She handed him a slip, then turned to walk to the seat next to me. The only open one. I noted with surprise that she looked like she was amused at something. But then she stepped under the vent of the heater and her scent blew over me.

It was mouthwatering, slightly floral - like freesia - and I very nearly lost every shred of humanity I'd managed to retain over my existence. If she'd been human, I doubted I'd been able to resist killing her then and there. 

She sat down, leaning as far away from me as the table would allow much like I was. My posture was stiff, my fists clenching under the table. I stopped the flow of air into my lungs, and felt immediate, but not whole, relief. The class seemed to drag on abnormally slowly. 

When the bell rang, I bolted up from my seat and out the door at an inhuman pace. If any of my fellow classmates had been paying the slightest bit of attention, they might have wondered at it, but they were all consumed with the new girl, Bella, like to a shiny object. 

I didn't go to my next class; I wasn't sure if I still retained enough control over myself to be around so many humans. I was angry that she could do this to me. Some insignificant, randomly appearing vampire could make me so very nearly loose the control I'd worked a century at. Instead of class, I went into my car, playing the music nice and loud. 

I sighed, and again wondered why Alice didn't see this happening, didn't see me loosing so much control. Was it the new girl's fault, or was Alice simply so consumed watching how Jasper fared since lunch proved his control close to the edge that she didn't see the big event? Or was it simply that nothing was going to happen anyways?

I searched for her thoughts, knowing exactly where she was located, and found them with the ease of familiarity. They all centered around Jasper, analyzing his every minute decision. I sighed, realizing that I was on my own in this. 

If I saw her again, tomorrow, say, and her scent reached me again, would I be able to keep such tight control of the monster that I was like I had this time? Was it just the element of surprise, or would it constantly be like this? And was I willing to risk the lives of innocent humans by not taking precautions against her alluring scent?

_Unless I can avoid her entirely…_ I thought suddenly. If I didn't see her at all, then there wouldn't be any problems, would there? It was only one class. There had to be a simple, non-endangering solution, one that would leave me even more a monster or disappoint Carlisle. 

I got out of the car, heading quickly to the office. Her scent was gone now - the fresh wet air of Forks had taken care of that - but the memory of it still lingered. 

I stepped in, seeing Ms. Cope behind the desk. It was perfect; the female population tended to be a lot easier to persuade to my wishes than not. She glanced up in surprise as I cleared my throat, eyes wide as she unknowingly realized the danger that I presented. Still, her thoughts immediately began the usual chant of _Too young, too young!_

I brushed away the thoughts of what I was 'too young' for. It was wrong on so many levels. Besides… I could be her great-grandfather. 

"Ms. Cope, would you mind doing a favor for me?" I asked in the soft voice I reserved for humans so as not to frighten them. 

"Why sure Edward, what do you need?" 

"Would it be at all possible to change my sixth hour biology to another hour, or, say, chemistry?"

She was thinking that there must be a problem in the class. "Why would you want to do that Edward?"

"Well, you see, I have already covered this material."

Now she was at a loss as to why I would want to skip out on an easy A. "Well, I'm sorry, but all the other classes are full, and Mr. Banner doesn't like to exceed twenty-five students."

"I wouldn't be any trouble."

_Of course; not a perfect Cullen._ "I'm sorry, Edward. Would you like me to talk to Mr. Banner?" Again with the thinking of there being a problem.

"No. Please Ms. Cope. Isn't there any way to change classes?" The door opened, but I ignored it, concentrating on my conversation with Ms. Cope. 

I could see - and 'hear' - that she was relenting. 

"Well…"

The door opened again, and the wind blasted in, swirling a scent around me that was already familiar. The monster leapt forward again, and I stiffened, turning slowly to glare at her. She glared back. 

"Never mind," I quickly muttered to Ms. Cope, then rushed from the office. My siblings were waiting by the car, and looked at me in confusion as I neared. Jasper, sensing my distress and upset, sent waves of calm towards me. I shot him a grateful look. 

As I turned on the car, hitting forty before I was even out of the parking lot, Alice voiced what they all were thinking. "Edward, what's wrong?" 

I shook my head. "Nothing, Alice." They didn't need to know how shamefully close I came to losing control. She frowned, not believing me, but I could tell she didn't see anything alarming in the future. But then she suddenly started singing the hokey-pokey in her head… backwards.

"So… guess what?" she asked excitedly. She didn't give anyone a chance to respond, as she immediately continued in a slightly sing-song voice, "Tanya's visiting!" I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to groan.

"Alice…" I said warningly. 

"And you're going to show her around and keep her company over the next few days." 

"Alice…" I growled. She and Esme were always trying to set me up with the strawberry blond. 

"You will, Edward. I saw it." She pointed to her eyes. My siblings' thoughts were mocking and amused. I scowled at the little pixie in the rearview mirror. 

We pulled up, a red Dodge Charger in the front. As I turned off the engine and they got out, Tanya appeared at the front door, her softly curled, strawberry blond hair moving in the breeze. 

I inwardly groaned. _Alice is going to pay for this._

**(Ha! So… that ended up slightly longer than I expected. By about a few paragraphs. But I like it better than I originally had it.)**

BPOV

I sighed heavily as we walked to the cafeteria; Jessica's non-stop chatter - coupled with the monotonous, never-ending cycle of brainwashing (aka school) - were taking a toll on my patience. Add to that the fact that I had my shields running constantly, I had very little left over to deal diplomatically with a bunch of hormonal teenage humans, whose biggest concerns were what to wear when they went out and if their crush reciprocated their feelings. Thankfully for me, Jess was appeased by the least interactive of minimal responses, leaving me free to pretty much ignore her. It was the only way I was lucky, really.

We entered the large room, and the scents of so many warm, blood-filled humans hit me like a physical force. I would have to hunt again tonight. Having already done so in Port Angeles and Seattle, I figured I would have to move up north a bit, to avoid suspicion. 

My eyes flicked to the table the Cullens usually sat at, and I froze.

The mind-reader was back.

"Bella?" Jessica asked, touching my arm in a totally faked concern manner. I resisted the urge to smack it away. Without a word, I walked to the lunch line, grabbed a soda, and went to sit at the table that was quickly becoming crowded. Mike Newton - whom I was quickly coming to the conclusion of holding the position as the most annoying being to grace this _universe_ - hopped up to pull out a seat, right next to him, for me. I reluctantly sat down. 

"Hey Bella! Where's your food? Aren't you hungry?"

_Oh, ravenous._ I thought. "No," I said calmly. "Just thirsty." My lips twitched at the double meaning those words could contain. 

Lauren - a blond with a horrible nasal voice - leaned over and whispered to a girl next to her. "I bet she's anorexic. Just look at her! She's almost as bad as Rosalie Hale."

I decided to take that small part as a compliment. Rosalie was beautiful. 

"Hey, Lauren." I said, smiling coldly. "Where's your food? You can't _not_ be hungry… didn't you skip yesterday, too?"

She turned red, and I glanced away, not needing any more temptation. My eyes skirted the Cullen table, landing on the mind-reader. He was staring at me curiously, with a slight hint of frustration, like I wasn't meeting some standard. Probably like the fact that he couldn't hear my thoughts. My eyes narrowed and I looked away. I was not looking forward to biology.

When I walked into the room, Mr. Banner was setting microscopes and boxes of slides on each table; there was no sign of the mind-reader yet. I sat down and pulled out a notebook. Being all caught up on my reports to Aro, I had nothing to do and began to doodle. I was highly aware of when _he_ sat down next to me.

"Hello." said a velvet, musical voice.

It was a very good thing that Marcus had taught me how to hide my emotions, to keep my face in the expression I wanted it in, otherwise this bronze-haired mind-reader might have seen something I didn't want him to see. Surprise. I was surprised at how his voice sounded - like melted honey. And I was surprised by how much I wanted to hear more of it. 

"I didn't have a chance to properly introduce myself last week. I'm Edward Cullen." I stared as he held out his hand.

Reluctantly, I shook it. "Bella. Bella Swan."

He grinned, revealing white, even teeth. "I know."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you do." _Stupid mind-reader._

For a moment, a somewhat awkward silence fell, during which I wondered when he would ask the inevitable and how I was going to respond. 

"I… _apologize_… for my behavior last week." 

The unexpected statement shocked me into turning to stare at him. 

"It was inexcusable." he added, a crooked smile lifting his mouth. It was incredibly _cute_, is what it was. 

I frowned at the thought, then shrugged and faced front. "It's fine. I don't really care." From the corner of my eye, I could see a hint of frustration return to his face. 

Mr. Banner explained the lab we were to do - something about mitosis and onion cells… and we were to work with our partners. Luck wasn't on my side in this mission, was it? I reluctantly turned to face the bronze-haired Cullen. 

"Ladies first?" He pushed the microscope towards me. I stared at him for a long minute. "Or not…." he trailed off, looking confused. Sighing, I snatched the contraption from him, peeking quickly through the eye lens. 

"Prophase." 

He nodded, accepting the analysis, and wrote it down in a neat, elegant script. After changing the slide, he glanced, muttering, "Anaphase." And so it continued for a few minutes before we were done. I glanced around the room. None of the others were close to being done and a few were cheating.

"So… what brings you to Forks?" The question would sound innocent enough to anyone who happened to over hear it - not that anyone would; he kept his voice low enough that only I would hear him - but I knew there was more to it. We weren't looking at each other as I answered.

"Lots of things. It's sort of complicated."

That didn't deter him, though I had doubted it would. "I think I can keep up."

I made the mistake of glancing at him, in annoyance, and meeting his eyes. They were a light butterscotch, with the same golden tints, and completely mesmerizing. I ended up blurting the truth.

"I was sent here."

As soon as I said it, I was angry with myself, and with those stupid gold eyes. How dare they hypnotize me into speaking the truth?

He frowned slightly. "Sent? Why? Who sent you?"

"My family." I stated, being sure not to look at those hypnotic eyes for fear I would let out more than I wanted. 

"Why would your-" he started, confused.

"They just did." I said, somewhat sharply. I shrugged and forced a slight smiled to lessen the words. "I get sent all over the place. I think I annoy them." Actually, I _knew_ I annoyed most of them. 

He grinned in response. "Well, my sister Alice is rather annoying most of the time, but we don't send her away." He paused, then chuckled. "Unless it's to the mall, but she'd go without being 'sent'." 

My small smile wasn't so fake now. "She likes to shop?"

He chuckled softly. "That would be an incredible understatement."

"Ah." I smiled.

He smiled back, and that was what alerted me. I was doing what I knew better than to do. I was getting close to someone I was probably going to have to kill. The thought saddened me. I believed I could like this gold-eyed bronze haired mind-reader, if given the chance. 

_Which is bad_, I reminded myself. _Bad, bad, _bad _Bella._

He was frowning in frustration again. I looked away, uneasy with my thoughts and what they meant. The bell rang and, this time, I was the one up and out of my seat and the room first. 

Gym was, in a nutshell, dull. Throw a ball, chase a ball, shoot a ball, chase it some more and you have pretty much any sport. While all the other kids were sweating and exhausted, I was bored and restless. Coach Clapp finally let us out and I hurried through changing, rushing out to my Arrow. 

My Blackberry vibrated as I neared and I pulled it out. 

"Swan…" I stated cautiously. The number had been blocked.

"Isabella!" said Aro's annoying-cheerful voice. "How are things?"

I rolled my eyes. "Just fine. Except, oh, yeah, I'm stuck in _school_. Did you ever even _attend_ school?" It was a rhetorical question; I knew he hadn't.

"No, but the television makes it sound very intriguing."

I had stopped moving back when I'd realized I was speaking to Aro; it required that much of my focus not to throw the phone across the parking lot or squish it to pieces in my hand. Flatly, I stated, "That's big cities on TV. Forks is _tiny_ in _real life_." 

"Now, Isabella, I'm sure-" 

I cut him off, knowing what he was going to say. "No, I am _not_ over-reacting!" I stomped my foot. People still there stared. 

Aro just laughed his annoying, fake sounding laugh. "Ha ha! Isabella, you're hilarious. Now, really, how has the job been going?"

"Abso-friggin-lutely perfect." I snapped.

"Isabella Marie Swan, you must be serious. This family is _dangerous!_" And off he went on a long rant about responsibility, commitment to the job, serious attitude, dangerous vampires, and blah blah blah. I'd heard it all a hundred thousand times before. It never changed, even by one word. Aro was so predictable. 

After two minutes of (not) listening to him, I decided he'd waster enough of my time for the week. "I'm hanging in up Aro." I announced and did so. He'd probably have Heidi call me back. Sure enough, as I stepped into my car, the phone vibrated again. I pressed the ignore button, turned it off, then threw it in the passenger seat. 

Try lecturing me now, Aro.

**Ha. So, okay, I didn't know quite where to end it, but figured there was good. Besides, I'm not sure how exactly to get to where I want to go next. But I'm working on it (while cleaning my room. As in, DEEP cleaning. I might need a snorkeling kit for it. I never realized how much JUNK was in there.) Anyways, let me know what you think, always. Even if it is to tell me how sucky something is. I can take it. Oh, and I fired Frank (he bit someone! I then found out he has delusions of being a vampire ;D) so I hired Roger. He has three kids and a beautiful review-button wife and your reviews bring in the money for them to live! So review! L&H. bibliocrazed**

\/p> 


	5. Ch 5 Aro, IM, & Lunch

**Hey! Here's chapter 5... and it's LONG. I promise. Actually, I rather enjoyed writing this chapter, but kept having to re-do parts cause they didn't come out how I liked. My little sister is back from my Nana's, and I go back to school on Monday... ick. But, I got three new books! Yes! Anyways, on with the story...**

I sighed as I got out of my car the next morning. How much longer was Aro going to have me just watch? I was stressed enough over the fact that my shields were constantly running, but add the fact that I was constantly surrounded by humans, and I was having to feed more often not to kill any innocent students. But it was getting harder to deny the fact that a rather large part of me was grateful for the wait; it meant more time to… what? What about them was _so _interesting about the Cullens that I was willing to spend more time in _school?_

Mike Newton, a big grin on his baby-face, stepped in front of me. 

"Bella!" 

"Hi Mike," I sighed. How much longer was Aro going to make me deal with _him?_

He tried to put his arm around me. I shrugged it off, more annoyed than usual. Even though I'd fed the other night - some guy was trying to set a fire up north, and let's say he didn't get the chance - I was still easily irritated by _Newton_. Who wouldn't be? 

"So… do you want to go out tomorrow night?"

I stopped and stared at him. "Uhm… _no._" I said.

"We could go out to eat, or to a movie."

Didn't he understand the English language and, more specifically, that word? "_No,_ Mike." I glared.

"We could do both, I guess. Hey, do you think we could take your car? You can-"

"I believe she said no, Newton. That means you can go now."

Should the voice have been so familiar? No… but it was. Mike was glaring behind me. 

"Cullen."

I turned around and there was the mind-reader Edward, looking more like a Greek God than anyone should have a right to. His hair was wet, but it looked like he'd just stepped off a shoot for hair-gel. I had the strangest urge to touch it… I shook those thoughts from my head.

Grinning, I turned around to face the vile Mike Newton again. "Yeah. So. See you around." Spinning around on my heel, I walked away to the Cullen. "Thanks for saving me." I muttered.

He laughed softly, and the sound was mesmerizing. "No problem." he said, shaking his head, drawing my attention to his messy locks again. "I doubt he's ever been so blatantly turned down before. Over half the female population is infatuated with him."

I snorted. "Well it can't be for his _scintillating _personality." 

He smirked, amused. "I'll see you in biology." he said, just as the bell rang.

I nodded, frowning slightly, and entered English. I shouldn't be wanting to see him so badly. Aro was likely going to make me kill him, or at least someone in his family, and the closer I go to him the harder it would be, for both of us. 

But I wanted to get close to him. He was intriguing…he was funny… and _boy, oh boy, _was he beautiful. 

Biology seemed to roll around so much more quickly than usual; the closer it came, the more I felt something close to panic. Distance myself? Forget rules and get to know this bronze-haired god? My mind felt torn between the two. Or, more accurately, my heart and common sense were arguing viciously over it. 

Yet when I sat down in the class, I couldn't stop from turning to smile at him. He smiled back, opening his mouth to say something, but shut it as Mr. Banner walked up. He handed me a yellow slip of paper from the office, then went back to the front of the class. I glanced at it, then crumpled it. Stupid Aro had called the stupid school. The note said for me to call him. _Stupid bastard_. With barely a glance, I threw the now tiny and likely un-foldable ball of paper into the trash can. 

"What's wrong?' He sounded truly concerned. It was going to make keeping distance between us that much harder. 

I was glaring in front of me. "Nothing."

"Bella, you can-"

"Leave. Me. Alone. Okay? I don't want to _talk _to you, I don't want to _listen _to you, I don't even want to _see _you anymore than I have to." All lies... how pathetic was I?

He glared, angry now. Good. It made it that much more easier to keep distance and not get any closer to him. Which was for the best. For both of us. That's what I kept telling myself, at least.

"Fine," he growled.

"Good." I snapped. We both turned away sharply. 

I was trembling with an intense wave of emotions. The tension between us was practically tangible, and he sat stiffly, much like that first day. When the bell rang, he rose, back stiff, and left without looking at me. I sighed softly, inexplicably sad, and rose too. I barely took in the rest of the day, though I did notice with relief that Mike left me alone. 

I was glad to reach the hotel room; I wanted to be able to mope over the loss of this mind-reader who could have been a friend, at the very least. But when I walked in, closing the door behind me, I blinked. Heidi, Aaron, and Cate were in carious places in my room, either sitting or standing. I dropped my bag to the floor and propped my hands on my hips. 

"Why?" I asked simply, though I had a rather good idea.

Aaron snorted and rolled his eyes. "Why, we came to ask if you wanted to help us hunt for leprechauns."

Cate, his cousin, laughed, her dark blond curls shaking as she shook her head in mock tragedy. "Oh, Aaron, what are we going to do with you?" She made to run her fingers through his black spiky hair, but he quickly leaned away, dodging her. Heidi rolled her eyes at their fooling around.

"You wouldn't contact Aro…"

"So he sent you to contact me." I finished for her. She nodded.

Aaron leaned back on the bed so he was looking at me upside down. "Whatever. I just wanted out of that castle. It's so _boring_."

Cate snorted. "Yeah, yeah. You heard that there were some pretty girls in the area, that's why you were the first out the door."

He shrugged, not denying it. "Your point? So I want to see some new faces. What about you? Fighting with Felix?"

She glared at him. "He's being an ass. Again."

Heidi sighed and came to stand next to me as they began to bicker.

"How are you Bells? Two weeks of school must be getting to you." She grinned teasingly. "Any boyfriends yet?"

I snorted. "Ha ha, Heidi." I smiled. "Actually, this very morning one of them asked me out. He's an annoying guy, constantly following me."

"Ha, you have a stalker!" Aaron laughed. Cate smacked the back of his head. "Hey…!" he whined, rubbing his head like it actually hurt. Which I highly doubted it did; she didn't hit him hard enough.

"Anyways…" I said pointedly. "Why does Aro _really_ want me here?" 

They were all quiet, meaning I was the only one left in the dark and my hunch that something was up was correct. Cate began to braid a strand of hair, while Aaron started counting the ceiling tiles under his breath. With a roll of my eyes, I turned to Heidi, staring her down. 

She relented after four minutes. "It wasn't just to watch these Cullens. He knows the leader, Carlisle, from a few centuries ago or something. But Aro is, as always…" She visibly struggled for a word.

"Paranoid?" I provided.

She grinned. "Yeah. That. But that's only his cover story. See, someone… tried to break into the castle, to get to you." 

I snorted and rolled my eyes. Whoever it was was obviously an idiot. Breaking into _Volterra?_ It was beyond laughable. I mean, _come on!_

"We caught him… apparently, he was sent by another vampire to attempt to kill you, or to at least figure out anything he could about you. His name was Laurent."

I frowned; the name rang a bell…

"He was working for Victoria?" Heidi prompted.

My eyes widened as I recalled the vicious red-head, then I laughed. "Ah. _Her_. Yes, she would like to kill me, I suppose. I killed her mate. James. The guy who was drawing attention through the multiple missing persons reports?"

"Oh… him?" Heidi remembered who I was talking about. I nodded and she shook her head. 

"Well, why didn't you kill her too?" Aaron asked, rather logically. 

Cate smacked his arm, rolling her eyes. "How long have you known Bella? She doesn't like to kill unnecessarily. Heck, she barely feeds half as often as us. Besides, who would be dumb enough to try to kill a member of the Volturi, especially Bella?"

"Um… I'm thinking this Victoria chick?" He laughed and dodged the pillow Cate threw at his head. 

"Smart-ass." she muttered, shaking her head.

"Blame her." He pointed at me, face sadly serious.

I laughed and bowed dramatically. Heidi rolled her eyes, then glanced around the room. "Well… I think we're gonna need a bigger room."

I threw a quick glance around too. "I concur."

Twenty minutes later found me checked out of the hotel and all of us across town in a large suite. 

"Comfortable furniture!" I exclaimed, falling onto a soft couch with those cushions you could sink into. "Much better," I sighed.

Heidi laughed, looking down at me. "You would think, after so many hotels, that you'd be immune to crappy beds."

I grinned. "You would think that, wouldn't you?"

Aaron lifted my feet and plopped down, dropping them on his lap. "I'm _bored_." he whined, sounding like he was in third grade.

Cate snorted. "Surprise, surprise."

He stuck his tongue out at her - in true third grade fashion - but reached sideways into his bag. He withdrew a laptop with a triumphant "Wah-la!" Grinning, he opened it and started it up. "Entertainment, here I come!" He logged in and clicked on IM. **(You know what's coming now, Shikiangel CerEbow! XD)**

"_What the hell?!"_ he exclaimed some time later. I glanced up from my book, Sense and Sensibility. 

"What?" 

He was staring at the screen in horror, so, with a groan, I shoved off the cushy armchair and moved to look over his shoulder. My eyes widened in shock, horror, and surprise, then narrowed. 

"It there _no _escaping him?" I threw up my hands, exasperated. 

"Not anymore…" Aaron answered mournfully. 

Aro had logged on. _Aro. _As in, leader of the Volturi, the most feared vampires in the world, _Aro._ Shaking my head, I muttered, "Let's hope he doesn't discover MySpace or something."

Cate stared at me wide-eyed. "Don't even joke, Bells."

Aaron just laughed loudly. "Oh, God! Aro and MySpace! I don't think the world will ever be ready for something like that!"

"The world isn't ready for Aro and IM, either, but did that stop him?" I met Heidi's eyes. "I blame Alec. He was always telling Aro about the wonders of the computer. Apparently he has now discovered them."

Heidi laughed at us and our (melo)drama. "What are you three going to do? Form an 'I-Hate-Aro' club?"

"It'd probably be incredibly popular." I snickered. 

Cate giggled. "Aro Haters Anonymous."

"Hey, can we really do that?" Aaron asked with interest, having turned off his laptop. 

"No." we all said at once.

He shrugged. "Just checking. Anyways, he said Cate and I were also enrolled in your school, Bells, to 'assist' you." He rolled his eyes. "We're like the extra protection or bodyguards. Heidi is going to be posing as our mom."

I sighed. "This is going to be fun," I stated dryly.

Aaron slung an arm over my shoulder. "Don't you know it?"

-------------------- LATER -------------------- LATER -------------------- LATER --------------------

I slammed the door to my Arrow, taking care not to damage the frame-work.

"Bella, I'm-"

Aaron snapped his mouth shut as I glared murderously at him. In the space of fifteen minutes, he'd managed to break the stereo and four CD's, crack a passenger seat window, and bust a taillight. If I thought I could get away with it, I'd kill him right then.

"I'm. Going. To kill you." I said pleasantly. What? He didn't know I wasn't _too _serious. 

He swallowed, then gestured vaguely over his shoulder. "I'm, uh, going to, um, go… over _there_." He hurried away, towards the office. Coward.

Cate put a hand on my shoulder. "At least you have an excuse to use one of your other cars." 

I raised a brow. "Ostentatious, much?"

She laughed. "Yeah, but you know you were dying for an excuse to show them off."

"Go get your schedule!" I shoved her playfully after her brother.

As I entered the English room, Mike glared at me. Apparently, he wasn't over the other day. I happily ignored him and sat down. 

Cate was posing as an upperclassman, a Senior, and Aaron was a junior with me; I ended up having him in Government and Spanish. I quickly realized that school was much more interesting with him around. He'd make fun of the teachers, mimicking them and the students oddly under his breath so only I could hear, only to smile politely and act like the perfect gentleman as they walked by. _I should have dragged him with me sooner_, I mused to myself as we joined Cate, who was waiting for us outside the Spanish room. We trooped to the cafeteria.

"So, which one is the short girl with black spiky hair?" Aaron asked me.

"Alice Cullen, psychic." I announced, not even having to think about it. I had everything about them memorized and could recite it in my sleep. If I _could _sleep, that is.

"Psychic?" He grimaced, then a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Do you think I could possibly persuade her to give me the answers to a test the day before it's given?"

I laughed; the question was just like Aaron. And he was completely serious. "I wouldn't know. I haven't spoken to her."

Cate grinned. "Yeah, you thought you'd have to kill her," she teased. "So, who's the big one with the curly black hair?"

"Emmett Cullen."

Cate pursed her lips. "Hmm… he's scary, but for some reason, I keep thinking of a _really _big, somewhat scary teddy bear." 

I cracked up, causing several students to stare wide-eyed. So I hadn't been very vocal before this. Sue me.

"You'll meet the rest of them - there's five that go here - when we get in the cafeteria. They always sit at the same table." 

We walked in and I paused. 

"I thought you said that there were five?" Aaron sounded confused.

"I did." I said quietly.

"Well then," Cate began slowly, "Who's the odd one out?"

A strawberry blond was sitting next to Edward, their chairs touching, her practically in his lap and touching some part of him constantly - his arm; his hand; his back. As I watched, she fingered his bronze hair, saying something inaudible. My stomach flipped sickeningly. 

I took a deep, totally unnecessary breath. 

"Come on," I muttered, leading them to the lunch line, where we bought food we'd never eat. Which was a waste, really. I sat down at a different table than usual, not wanting to deal with the humans there; Angela was the only one I even remotely liked, probably because she was quiet, shy, and didn't push for information. In other words, she didn't give me a headache. 

Aaron scooted his seat close to me. "Tell us what's wrong, Bells. We know you. You looked like someone had shot you in the head a moment ago." he whispered in my ear.

Cate nodded sagely. I looked at her in disbelief.

"Has the world stopped turning? You two are _agreeing_ on something that doesn't concern Aro?"

Aaron cracked up loudly at that, startling many people. They'd better get used to it. He'd brought his lightheartedness into this existence and lets say he didn't, probably _couldn't_, go five minutes without laughing or making someone laugh. 

"I know, it shocks me that he's actually being _smart_ right now, but there's a first for everything I suppose," Cate sighed and shrugged.

"Yeah, well…"Aaron trailed off, obviously floundering for a comeback, then said, "You smell funny!"

I raised a brow as Cate laughed, drawing more brief, incredulous glances. "Did you just quote Jack Sparrow?"

He grinned, then said, "Is that a plane?"

Cate's face lit up. "I _love _that blooper!"

I shook my head; they were so immature at times… okay, _most _of the time. "You belong in preschool, Aaron, you know that?" I muttered, slowly picking apart a cookie. 

He sighed dramatically and sadly. "Alas, I believe three-year-olds surpass my level of maturity."

Cate shook her head, ponytail bouncing. "Stop changing the subject Bella. Tell us what's bugging you."

"Besides you guys?" I sourly questioned.

Aaron laughed, but said, "We never count in that question. And no, you can't plead the fifth."

I opened my mouth to hand out a snappy come-back, but at that moment, the new vampire at the Cullen table laughed loudly, drawing the attention of half the lunch room.

"Oh, so _she's _the problem." Aaron said in a somewhat all-knowing voice.

Cate's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "Spill, Bells."

I glared at them sullenly. "It's nothing. Nosy bastards." I added in a mutter.

"It's obviously something, so spill!" She was relentless when it came to gossip. Thank God she wasn't as annoying as that Jessica girl, or I'd be in trouble. And she never spread gossip, just loved to hear it. I think she was socially deprived as a child.

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Y-es." She drew it out to two syllables. 

"YES!" Aaron threw in; I doubted he even knew exactly what we were arguing about.

"_No!"_

_"YES!"_ They both snapped.

I crossed my arms stubbornly, refusing to talk. Care glared.

"I'll strip you in the middle of one of your classes, Bella." she threatened. Cate had the sometimes-annoying talent of being able to manipulate matter; and as long as it wasn't _me_, I couldn't stop her. Yet. (I was still working on it, and would be able to someday; mark my words). So it wasn't an empty threat.

I glared. "You wouldn't." I stated. I was only half-sure of that, though. She actually _might_ if she was annoyed enough. Hmm…

She snorted. "Try me," she challenged. We stared at each other - well, okay, _glared_ _death_ _beams_ would be more accurate - for about five minutes. I gave up when my jacket started to slip off.

"It's just annoying, alright?!"

The two cousins smirked at each other briefly.

"What is?"

"Her. Him. _Them!"_

"Oh." Cate looked like she'd suddenly realized something. "You like him."

"No!" I snapped, flustered. I didn't, did I?

She smirked. "Yes, you do. Or this wouldn't be bothering you."

She was right, actually. It _shouldn't _be bothering me.

Well, crap.

"No." I repeated stubbornly. I might know it now, but I wasn't going to tell them that.

Aaron snorted. "Whatever. He's doing it on purpose, I bet."

We both looked at him, startled. "What makes you say that?" I asked in surprise.

He shrugged smugly, then motioned us closer. Cate scooted her chair and leaned across the table. 

"I overheard Alice and the blond guy talking this morning. They were wondering why Edward brought Tanya along when he's never shown an interest in her before. The guy said that he - Edward, that is - felt angry since yesterday and still was, only more in a revenge-like way. Alice was quiet, then said that he was an idiot. I figured that the two upsetting you are Edward and Tanya. Did you do something to upset him yesterday?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Well… I didn't want to get close to him." At their stares, I added in a defensive hiss, "I thought I was going to have kill him! Or at least a member of his family!"

Aaron nodded slightly. "He's trying to get back at you. Show you that he doesn't care."

Cate snorted. "Guy logic will never make sense to me. If he wants her to pay attention to him, trying to show off like this isn't the smartest way." 

Aaron shrugged. "It got her attention, didn't it? He got the desired effect."

She looked at her cousin sadly. "You really don't get it, do you?" 

I snorted. 

"So, if Bells here wants to make him realize that he made a mistake, she's going to have to prove to him that _she_ doesn't care."

I looked at him in shock. "When did you turn into Dr. Phil?"

He scoffed. "I am _so_ better than Dr. Phil."

I grinned. "Okay. So, Dr. Aaron, what do you suggest?"

"Monkey see, monkey do."

Cate and I both blinked. "Huh?!"

He rolled his eyes. "They flirt…"

"I flirt!" I said, getting it suddenly. But I was unsure if it'd really work.

He must have seen this, because he pulled me onto his lap in a quick movement I wasn't expecting. "Just go with the flow. Nothing bad will happen." he said in a coaxing tone. I slowly relented. It wasn't like he thought of me _that_ way. We were too brother-sister like. 

"This can _not_ end well." Cate muttered, glancing over her shoulder worriedly. 

Aaron scoffed again. "You worry too much cuz." Then he started twirling a lock of my hair. "I love you Muffin." he cooed to me. 

I giggled - _Muffin?!_ This could be fun… I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered, "I love you too, mushy bear." 

He grinned, realizing I was getting into a pet-name-war. 

"Ah, pokey-poo, you're so adorable!"

I buried my face in his shoulder to muffle and hide my laughs. It was just too hilarious. Aaron leaned closer to my ear. "He's watching us."

Trying to act natural about it, I looked up and asked, "Can we see a movie tonight? Pwease?" I pouted excessively. From the corner of my eye, I could see _him_ watching us.

He pursed his lips to stop the laughter I could see dying to slip out. "Sure." Smiling, I quickly pecked Aaron on the cheek, something I did all the time; like I said, he was a brother to me. 

Edward's eyes turned pitch black. Jasper glanced at him in surprise, then followed his gaze to us. Sudden understanding lit his gaze. The rest of Edward's family were either glancing at him in concern, or following his and Jasper's gazes to me. 

Out of nowhere, Edward leaned over and kissed… _Tanya's_ mouth; Jasper's head whipped around in shock. 

"Shit," I heard Aaron mutter next to me, obviously not expecting that to happen. I was no longer watching from the corner of my eyes, having turned to face the table now. Cate was staring at me in concern, as if she knew that I was suddenly feeling like everything had frozen. Alice's face had blanked, Jasper was staring at me in blatant amazement; I realized after a split second that I had stopped putting up my shields. I slammed them back up, standing as I did so.

"Bells…" Aaron said quietly, his hand coming out to touch mine. Ignoring him, I exited the room; students were already outside, forcing me to move at an excruciatingly slow pace. I walked until I was off campus, not entirely sure where I was heading, then took off at a dead run. When I hit Port Angeles, I slowed to a human pace, walked all the way to the hotel we were now at, and then searched out room briefly for my extra keys. I found them, and felt a faint stirring of excitement. I rushed outside, where it was now pouring rain heavily, and to my newest car… a 2008 Maserati GranTurismo S. I turned on the CD player and Finger Eleven began playing. With a grin, I raced out of the little town and sped off to not-even-I know where. 

**Ha, so there it is. (For once, Edward _didn't_ over-think... he just skipped the whole thinking part!) Anyways, I would love reviews. They'll encourage me to update faster... L&H**


	6. Ch 6 Alice

-1**Yes! I wanted to get ten reviews for the last chapter, and I did! Let's try for twelve this time! I send muches smooches to all my reveiwers - you guys are my reason to keep writing! It was suggested I do an EPOV, so I added it here briefly. Now you can all see what he was(n't) thinking. Lawl. On with the story…**

EPOV

I sat down at the table, listening to Tanya talk, but not taking in what she was saying. I was trying to remind myself why I had brought her in the first place. The door to the lunch room opened and Bella stepped in with two new students, who were also vampires. She was smiling, looking happy as she hadn't before, and I recalled what had possessed me to bring Tanya. 

It was ridiculous, really. But I wanted Bella to see that I didn't care, that her obvious hatred of me wasn't bothering in the least. I'd spent the last night consumed with anger, at her, myself, Mr. Banner for giving her the note that had abruptly changed her mood. 

So I'd brought Tanya, in a spur of the moment decision more like Emmett than myself. Now I was beginning to wonder if I would have been better off leaving her behind. 

"So, Edward, what is your class after lunch?" she asked, fingering my hair. 

"Um… biology." I muttered, drawn back to the table. Alice wasn't talking to me; actually, she seemed disgusted with me and was singing Heels Over Head in some remote language from Alaska. Obviously she had seen something. 

A sudden laugh drew me from my thoughts again, and we all glanced quickly towards a table across the room, where Bella and the two new vampires were sitting. 

"I had the girl, Cate, in one of my classes. She didn't talk." Emmett said. 

Rose glanced at him. "Odd." 

Alice shrugged. "The other one is her cousin, I think. He was in my biology class this morning… his name's Aaron. He's rather funny, actually." 

"How?" Rosalie asked. 

Again, she shrugged. "He was standing behind the teacher, and started mimicking him, extremely well. When the teacher turned around to see why the whole class was laughing, Aaron said while glaring 'Why are you all laughing when your teacher is talking? Have you no respect?' Then he turned to Mr. Banner and said, 'Sir, I admire your self-control. These students…' He shook his head in disgust, earning a smile from Mr. Banner. When the teacher wasn't facing him again, he started mocking him again. He was pretty good at it."

Tanya burst out laughing. I watched as half the students stared at our table, then looked away. They were all shocked how the few people here were so loud and wondering what made them so happy.

I glanced over again, wondering what brought them here, and listened to their thoughts. The guy, Aaron, was thinking about how to cheer Bella up, like he had in the classes this morning. The girl, Cate, was thinking how much she loved her goofy cousin, and how she already had homework. I tensed I realized Bella was in his lap. She smiled and kissed his cheek lovingly. He smiled back smugly. A sudden feeling much like fury, something that twisted my insides and made me want to rip Aaron's head off his shoulders, filled me. Jasper looked at me in shock, then followed my gaze. 

I leaned over and kissed Tanya on the mouth. She froze in shock, Jasper's head whipped to look at me.

_What the HELL are you doing, Edward?_

_ Why are you kissing her? You don't like her!_

_ Wow… I wonder why he's suddenly interested…_

_ Damn! Where are all those emotions coming from…_

_ Bella was leaning against a bridge, I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world… _I drew out of Alice's thoughts as she started singing. I pulled away just in time to see Bella's mahogany hair disappear as she left the room. Rose and Emmett were staring wide-eyed; Alice and Jasper were glaring at me, their thoughts accusing. I had a feeling they both knew my real intentions for bringing and kissing Tanya. 

I was in trouble, and I sure knew it.

BPOV

I leaned against the railing of the bridge, staring blankly down into the clear water. I was shocked it was clear, actually; most rivers weren't so… clean. I wasn't quite sure where I was, definitely out of state, in some kind of park. It was soothing, calming, and I felt the stupid worries of my life slip away. Aro'd be pissed that I left alone, especially now that I know about the whole Victoria thing. But I loved annoying Aro… it was one of the few pleasures of my existence. 

"… Bella?" 

I glanced up at the unfamiliar voice, quiet and close, and came face to face with the psychic, Alice. 

"Um… may I ask what you're doing here?" I asked her, not wanting to seem rude, but still wondering how she knew I was here. 

"I saw, in a… vision, you coming here, earlier at lunch…" She paused, then said, "I'm Alice Cullen."

I smiled. "I know." 

She tilted her head slightly. "Why did you come here?" She gestured around the park. 

I shrugged. "I didn't know I was coming here, at first. But I saw it, and it was peaceful looking." 

Alice nodded. "I was wondering, do you know why I couldn't see you before?" I could tell she was afraid of insulting me, or seeming too forward and pushy. 

"I can block powers. Some, like your's and Jasper's, I have to concentrate on blocking, others just don't work." I shifted uncomfortably. 

"Oh." She looked thoughtful, and I knew that she knew that I wasn't telling her everything. "Well," she said brightly, "Are you ready to come back?" 

I glanced at her. "Not entirely."

"Great!" She grinned brightly. "Then you'll come shopping with me!" 

My eyes widened. I didn't like shopping. "I don't have any money with me. Or credit cards." Which wasn't a lie; it was, though, an excuse.

Her eyes widened sadly and she pouted, looking for all the world like a lost puppy. "But, Bella… don't you want to be friends? I'm sorry for Edward's actions earlier; usually he over-thinks everything, but apparently he decided to just skip the whole thinking process. But can't we still be friends?"

"Um…" I felt cornered. "No?"

She looked down, shoulders slumping. "Why not? I could have sworn that I saw us being great friends…"

I sighed, defeated by how sad she looked; from what I'd seen at school, she was a very happy, perky girl. Besides, if she'd seen it, there was no avoiding it.

"Fine, Alice. I'll go shopping with you, if it'll make you feel better." 

She looked up, grinning, then jumped up and down, clapping her hands. "Thank you Bella!" She threw her arms around me in a hug. I froze for a moment, then hugged her tentatively back. She grabbed my hand and dragged me off towards the entrance of the park and the parking lot. "I had my husband Jasper drop me off, so we can take your car!" 

I stared at her suspiciously. "Why didn't you have him wait, if you didn't know if I'd come?" 

She shrugged. "I was going to use my lack of a ride to get you to come shopping." She was obviously unabashed at being willing to use such devious means.

I laughed loudly, and dug my keys out of my pocket. As I walked up to my car, Alice paused with a shocked expression. 

"This is your car?" she asked in disbelief.

I looked at her over my shoulder. "Yeah." 

Her eyes lit up. "I love it! Rose'll want to see it, you know." she added as we stepped inside.

I tilted my head to the side and glanced at her. "Why?"

Alice laughed. "Rose loves cars. She's a great mechanic."

I smiled wryly. "Do you think she would be able to fix up my Arrow?"

Alice laughed loudly. "I saw it this morning. What happened?"

"Aaron. Aaron happened." I sighed, while she just laughed some more. I rolled my eyes, not really annoyed, more amused, and turned on the radio. 

"You can pick any station you want," I said to Alice, who immediately started fiddling with the dial until a song I hadn't heard before blared from the speakers. She sang along to the words, dancing slightly in her seat. I couldn't help but smile at the little pixie. Her exuberance was catching. 

"Pull off here," she said some time later, and I followed her directions, pulling off to an exit ramp. For around thirty minutes, I followed her directions, and then we pulled up in front of a large mall. We walked into the large building, full of smaller stores, and Alice grabbed my hand again in excitement. 

"We're going to have so much fun!" she squealed. I couldn't bring up any excitement, as I was suddenly remembering what Edward had said, about Alice enjoying shopping being a massive understatement. 

I was in trouble, wasn't I?

As we stepped into the first store, Alice turned to look at me. "What's your size?" 

I blinked, surprised. "I don't have any money, Alice. I told you that."

She waved her hand impatiently and dismissively. "Silly Bella, I'm going to buy them for you!" 

I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off. "Bella, I will buy you stuff. If it's going to upset you that much, you can pay me back later, alright?" I could tell from her tone of voice that there would be no arguing with her. I sighed; she knew defeat when she saw it and turned around triumphantly. 

Only a short time later, I was shoved into a stall with an armload of clothes. 

I tried them on, already bored with the whole process; Alice made me come out and show her everything, which she then dubbed a "yes", "no", or "maybe". By the end of the afternoon, she had fifteen bags full to the brims with clothes, and I was carrying four. 

"Why don't-" she started to say, again.

"No, Alice. I don't _want _anything else. I'm perfectly _fine _with all of this." I hefted the large bags in my hands. She pouted, but I glared at her. "_No."_

"Fine," she pouted, and we shoved everything into my car. I was surprised that she was able to make it all fit in there. 

"Are you sure your talent isn't in making space enlarge to fit all of your shopping bags?"

She just laughed. We drove back to Forks, and I headed straight to their house.

'How do you know where my house is?" she asked, surprised.

I would have been blushing if I could; I didn't answer her, and she probably had a pretty good idea of how anyways. I turned off the car, and took a breath. We both spoke at the same time.

"Why are you really here in Forks?"

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Alice."

_ Shit._ I thought. She, at least, knew or had a hunch that there was more to my time in Forks than met the eye.

I widened my eyes innocently. "I have no clue what you mean, Alice."

She gave me a look. "Why don't you help me bring in the bags? I can't carry them all." She pouted, and I sighed. 

"Yeah, I'll carry them to the door, Alice. The door." I repeated. 

She huffed. "Bella, what in the world is keeping you from meeting my family? If it's because of your diet, that won't bother -" 

"Why would I think my diet would bother you?" I interrupted.

She stared. "Didn't you know? We don't feed from humans, we feed from animals."

I believe my mouth fell open. For a full minute, I struggled to wrap my mind around this odd development. "…Animals?" I sounded like I was being strangled.

Alice's pretty brow furrowed. "Yes. You didn't know?"

I shook my head. "Is that why your eyes…?"

She nodded, raging curiosity in her eyes. "Edward said you told him your family sent you…?"

"Yes, I was sent here." I said carefully.

"Did they know our family was here?"

"No." I lied.

"She's lying, Alice." 

I jerked as Jasper opened the door and leaned down to smile at Alice. 

Well, crap. Apparently I had stopped with the shields again; relaxing around Alice during shopping had made my attention to such a fact lessen. 

Which was probably how Alice had realized I had an ulterior reason for being here? I wondered what she had seen.

Jasper was carrying some bags towards the house; Alice was giving me a look.

"Okay, so I knew. Big deal." I snapped, annoyed at mainly myself.

"And they didn't tell you about us and our diet?" 

"No." I stated. I stepped out and grabbed five bags, dragging them to the steps of the house. I turned to leave, but Alice was in front of me, blocking me and looking determined. 

"Move, Alice," I sighed. "I want to go home."

"Not until you tell me why I see a bunch of people coming after you."

I tilted my head. "A bunch of people are coming after me? Care to explain?"

"I don't know. Do you?"

I laughed. "Good _bye_, Alice." I was about to move past her when I was grabbed from behind. 

I sighed again. "Emmett, I presume?"

The laugh was answer enough.

Muttering sourly under my breath, I wriggled out of his grip and moved quickly, hitting him hard enough to cause him to stumble back but not enough to actually hurt him. Volturi training in action.

He looked shocked, as I brushed past Alice. I paused as I reached my car though. Rosalie was holding my battery in her hands. 

"Fine," I muttered. I turned and ran quickly into their garage, then opened the door to the silver Volvo. Revenge is sweet, I've heard. I hot-wired it quickly, and then peeled out, just barely missing Rosalie and Emmett as they came in after me. 

I couldn't stop laughing at their expressions, especially Edward's as he stepped out on the porch and saw I'd high-jacked his car. I drove all the way to my hotel, then ran upstairs, still laughing. Aaron looked up as I walked in, immediately nervous.

"Uh, hey, Bells!" 

I stopped laughing. "What did you do, Aaron?"

Cate laughed. "Let's say your car is now missing a driver's side window, too."

"Aaron!" I screeched, then chased him around the suite for about five minutes before managing to tie him firmly to a couch. It'd take him about five minutes to get out of that.

As I walked back into the sitting room, Heidi glanced up from a computer screen. "Aro's on IM again and wants to talk to you, Bella."

I sighed heavily. "Now?" I whined.

She grinned. "Yeah. Now."

I dragged my feet over to the laptop, and sat down. 

**Yes, Aro?** I reluctantly typed.

Isabella, what have you been doing?! You know why I really sent you there now and yet you still run off on your own! I taught you to be smarter than that!

I sighed and replied. **I can take care of myself. And this all could have been avoided if you told me the real reason for sending me here in the first place, Aro. I'm a big girl; you don't have to hide behind excuses.**

Isabella, you need to learn to control yourself. I did what I had to. If I'd told you otherwise, you would have done something reckless. Again.

I grinned as I read that. **Reckless? Me? Never. Why didn't you tell me they didn't kill humans?**

I have to go; we will continue this discussion of your ridiculous actions later. He logged off. I snorted; coward. I knew perfectly well why he hadn't told me - he didn't want me leaving the Volturi and knew my aversion to killing the humans. I hunted on my own, unless Heidi specifically got me some criminal. And even then I didn't like doing it, but it was better than nothing.

I got off the stool, and walked into the bedroom I was using as mine. Already, I was restless. I needed to _do_ something. I sat down for a few more minutes, then got up. 

"Hey, Cate, you want to go see if we can get any movies? Or go out to see one?

She looked up from a text book. "No thanks Bells; I haven't fed in a while and would hate to make a mistake or something."

I sighed but smiled at her. "Yeah, that's fine." I began to troop back into my room, only to hear a knock at the door. I paused, then continued as I heard Heidi say she'd get it. 

"Um… hello." Heidi said slowly. I paused again, hand on the door to my room.

"Hi! Is Bella here?" 

I recognized that perky voice… it'd been talking almost non-stop in the mall today.

"Uhmm.." Heidi didn't know whether or not to let Alice in, so I quickly headed back to the front room. 

"Yes, Alice?" I asked.

She frowned at me. "You never answered my question."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, Rosalie dismantled my car."

"You stole Edward's car."

"That was revenge on his little stunt at lunch today. And for his actions the first day. You know, it can just cover my whole stay here." 

Heidi looked back and forth between us. "You stole a car?"

I shrugged. "They broke mine."

Aaron poked his head around the corner. "Then why are you mad at me? That Maserati is way more expensive than the Arrow."

I glanced at him in annoyance. "_Because_," I stressed, "They only took out a part. _You broke _the Arrow about _five times_."

"Oh." he said, walking around the corner. "Hey, it's the psychic girl! Listen, would you mind giving me answers to a test before its like handed out? Cause I don't see why I have to study when I'm only here cause Aro told-"

Heidi and I both snapped around to glare at him.

"…Oops." he said. 

Cate walked in, shaking her head. "You can't think, can you? Today at lunch, right now, five years ago when Felix and I started going out…"

"I had to tell him that he better not be messing with you, it's a cousin/big brother thing." 

"So what led to the punching him in the face?"

"Uh… I can't remember. I'll get back to you on that."

Heidi shook her head. "You weren't much help there, Cate."

"What? She already knew, it was Aaron's fault!"

I sighed and massaged my temples. _This _is why I avoid being in Volterra for too long. These people can't go three hours without an argument. 

Alice was staring at us wide-eyed. "You're from the _Volturi_?"

I glanced at her, annoyed. Then I watched as the rest of the family stepped out from behind her. 

"Well… shit." I muttered. 

**So, REVIEW PLEASE. I'm aiming for 12... Pwease? Even if it's just to say "hi", is it really so difficult to take a minute to review? Half a minute? Please? Thanks for reading!**


	7. Ch 7 Carlisle's Story

-1**Here it is: the next chapter. Sorry it's up a little later than I said it would be - school was crazy, and I was exhausted last night. I slept for over thirteen hours! And, sadly, our sophomore class lost to the seniors for spirit week, but only by TWO POINTS. We really should have won. AND ONE MORE THING! (lol. School joke). I love all of my reviewers! I GOT TWENTY last chapter, and I totally didn't expect that. So for everyone who reviewed that chapter: bkwrmgrl87, corneyjokeluver, Roast.Beef.Writer, BellaxEdwardforever95, DemonSong10, Shikiangel CerEbow, Jade Taylor, WolfGirlSingerChick, Saramiho, YouKnowDebussy, xXBeetle Of DestinyXx, alicegotavision, INVX, LaLaLethie, barbiedoll123, evilangel3326, cherrysakurawolf, berndi, Christy4ever, AliceCullen69, and PocketOfChange. You are all the BEST ever. Thank you bunches!!**

All of the Cullen family were now standing in my doorway, even two whom I'd never seen before. I assumed they were Esme and Carlisle. Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable under the seven golden gazes, as if I were a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Which was rather ridiculous, as I hadn't done anything wrong… well, not really. Okay, maybe I _had_ done a few things wrong….

"Bella Swan, I take it?" The blond male I didn't recognize - but assumed was Dr. Carlisle Cullen - finally broke the silence.

Slowly, I nodded, my face blank. I didn't want to give away anything until I knew what was what with these strange vampires.

"I'm Carlisle Cullen. But then, I am sure Aro already informed you of that." He smiled dryly, but not angrily, and held out his hand.

Still reluctant, I shook it. I wasn't quite sure how these Cullens would react to the fact that I was part of the Volturi. Usually, it didn't go down very well; actually, I ended up killing most of the people who found that fact out. Yet the Cullens were all relaxed and smiling - or at least had calm expressions - and not tensed as if preparing to fight.

"How is Aro?" he asked after a brief, yet awkward, silence.

I shrugged. "Annoying and paranoid as ever, but fine, I suppose."

Emmett burst out laughing. "Aro, a member of the most powerful group of vampires in the world, is paranoid?"

"Yes." I stated bluntly.

Heidi spoke up then. "Bella is rather biased, seeing how much she dislikes Aro. But, yes, he is fine."

"Aro Haters Anonymous." Cate muttered. Aaron snorted in laughter. The "younger" Cullen's looked at each other in confusion.

Carlisle laughed softly. "May we come in?"

I shrugged and turned to lead the way into the sitting room. As they all sat down, I noticed that Aaron and Cate were following Heidi in, their body language signaling an argument had taken place. Typical, since they all probably wanted to deal with this differently.

"Hey, where's that other chick from lunch today?" Aaron asked, pausing in the doorway, in his usual blunt manner. I rolled my eyes; it was a typical Aaron question, asked in typical Aaron way - without consideration of how diplomatic it is to ask it. Edward, I noticed from the corner of my eye, stiffened and glanced away, almost sheepishly. Alice was shooting him a dirty look; his eyes flickered to her briefly and away, as if in silent communication.

"She needed to take care of some things back at her home in Alaska." Carlisle said smoothly. If he noticed the somewhat odd reactions in the room among his family, he didn't show it. The silence after this answer stretched, easily becoming uncomfortable. My Volturi friends and I didn't know what to say; neither, apparently, did the Cullens. Aaron leaned over and whispered to Cate, who nodded with a slight desperation.

"We're going to go out." he said. I remembered what Cate had said only shortly earlier, about needing to hunt soon, and frowned slightly, looking away out the window. In the faint, vague reflections, I could see Heidi watching me worriedly, apparently torn between staying here or going with the other two to hunt. I examined her dark eyes in the glass, and knew right away what decision she would make.

"Bella…?" She took a step forward, obviously wanting to know if I would be okay if she left.

I lifted my shoulders very slightly in a shrug, letting her know - however falsely - that it wouldn't bother me in the least if she left. She hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed the other two out of the front door. The sound of it shutting seemed to echo loudly and with an odd finality.

"Bella, Bella, Bella!" Alice said excitedly, bouncing up and down on the couch were she was sitting.

I continued to stare out the window, but turned slightly to let her know I was listening. I felt tense and confused and embarrassed; I was all alone with these non-human killing Cullens who might or might now be angry with me. On top of that, I felt primitive and barbaric - they had risen above what they were, while I had given in to the temptation of thirst. They were like angels in my hell, with my demons. A sudden wave of reassurance and serenity hit me, and I glanced lightening fast at Jasper. He smiled faintly and pulled Alice onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her small waist. Something in me twisted painfully.

"You're coming to our house!" she squealed. "Isn't it great?!" She clapped her hands, squirming in excitement on her husband's lap.

I slowly raised a brow at her announcement.

"Alice," Esme scolded lightly. "You should _ask_ her over, not tell her as if it's already been decided without her input."

My lips twitched slightly in amusement. Even though she was reprimanding the little pixie, it was clear how much she adored and loved her. Everything about Esme was motherly and kind, as if she would always love the others as if they really were her children.

"Bella, would you mind terribly coming to our house for a visit?" Alice asked innocently. I nearly snorted, seeing right through her act. I doubted I had much choice as far as she was concerned.

"You can get your car back," she quickly and slyly bribed.

Shooting her a dirty look, I muttered sarcastically, "Oh, well, I always respond well to bribes!" Then, dryly, I added, "I suppose it'll be the only way for me to get it back?"

Alice laughed, Rosalie and Emmett grinned, while Esme shot them stern looks. Then she turned a kind gaze to me; I couldn't meet her gentle gold eyes, such an obvious reminder of how refined they were compared to me.

"Of course not, dead. You can all switch cars tomorrow morning when you arrive at school, if you don't want to come over tonight."

I smiled at the floor, even more unable to meet this kind woman's gaze. "Not to be rude or anything, but I prefer to not let other people drive my car, no matter how well I know them."

"Oh, it's not a problem at all. That's perfectly fine." she hurried to assure me.

I sighed, seeing no way past this. "Well, then I suppose I'll have to come over."

Alice squealed in excitement and clapped her hands, obviously glad I had relented. Rosalie looked rather disappointed, probably because I'd just said I don't let other's drive my cars. Even Esme looked pleased. Carlisle smiled encouragingly; Emmett grinned hugely.

Edward stood up and walked out the door without a word. I felt a stirring of annoyance at that, but squashed it. The rest of the Cullens followed him out the door. Alice latched onto my arm and dragged me with her, as if she expected me to back out at the last minute and lock them out of the room before making a run for it.

"We took Rosalie's car here, and Carlisle's Mercedes. Edward has his keys still, so if you show him where you parked the Volvo, he'll drive that back. I swear, if he could, he'd marry that car." As we stepped outside, I pulled my arm free and pulled my hood up, hiding from the rain. I glanced from under it at the wet and rain in distaste. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were near a bright red BMW; Carlisle was holding open the door for Esme. The looks they gave each other were so full of love, it made my heart twist painfully; their love was obvious and powerful.

"May I have my car back now?" The velvet voice was somewhat stiff and annoyed.

I glanced at him, trying to quell the irrationally resentful emotions that were trying to fight their way up.

"No."

He glared at me and I glared back, though I found it would have been more natural to ogle. _Stupid bronze-haired god._ I knew I was being unnecessarily stubborn, but I didn't care. Alice came skipping over from talking to Jasper.

"Where's Edward's Volvo? You, him, and I are going to be taking it."

After a moment more of glaring at Edward, I turned on my heel and led the way to the silver car. He brought out his keys and happily got in the driver's seat. Alice watched as I grumpily got in the back seat, then slowly got in the front.

We followed the other cars out of the small town, all the way to Forks, then out of Forks. I glared out the window at the passing scenery; green trees, green moss, green mush, even the light that broke through the clouds seemed green. I was really coming to hate that color.

We pulled up in front of the huge white house, and I was struck again by its beauty. I got out of the car, and followed the family up the steps. I was suddenly set with a nervousness I wasn't used to. Most of the time, I was the confident one, so being nervous was horrible for me. I hadn't really been nervous since the first year with the Volturi, and that had quickly left once I had found out what a push-over Aro could be, if you knew what to do.

I stepped inside, then stopped, unable to keep my mouth from opening slightly in surprise. No matter how beautiful the outside was, the inside was gorgeous. It was done in varying shades of white, and was bright and open. The entire back wall was made of glass, and you could see far back to the tree line. I looked around me in awe; I'd never seen any place so … serenely beautiful as their house.

"Do you like it?" Esme asked, smiling.

I couldn't fine my voice, so I just nodded earnestly. She seemed pleased. Edward walked past me, up the stairs; faintly, I could hear his door close. Alice came to stand next to me and glared up the curving staircase after her brother.

"Idiot." she muttered.

Jasper wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Yes." he agreed.

Emmett clapped a hand on my shoulder from behind. "So, Bella, you're in the Volturi? What do you do?"

I shrugged. "When someone breaks the rules, I go and kick their butt."

He laughed his loud booming laugh, which inevitably led me to smiling. Nothing ever seemed to get to Emmett. Rose wandered past to the couch, sat on the arm, and stared at her reflection in the glass wall.

"So… have you killed anyone?"

I turned to look at Emmett, and couldn't help but smile slightly. "Yes, I have."

"How many?"

I shrugged. "I don't keep count, Emmett. But," I added quickly, knowing what he was opening his mouth to ask next. "I'd take a guess at about a hundred, altogether."

His eyes widened, and even Jasper looked impressed.

"What else do you do?" Alice looked interested. "Anything besides Volturi work?"

I blinked, brought up short. What else did I do besides Volturi work? "Um… I read. I've played a few video games with Demetri, Felix, and Alec. I'm pretty good at the Wii." I shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't have much of a social life." I grinned at them.

"Video games and Wii?" Emmett grinned evilly. "You any good?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." I said modestly.

"I'll play you." He sounded eager.

I laughed, suddenly no longer nervous, forgetting about the fact that I wasn't as sophisticated as this amazing family. "You're on!"

We were playing best two out of three on the Wii when Esme came in to watch us. Emmett was completely focused on the game, and Jasper, Alice, and Rosalie were all gathered around.

"Yes!" I cheered, throwing my hands up and grinning. Alice tripped forward and slapped me a high five; even Rosalie, whom I was getting the impression didn't particularly like me, grinned. Jasper clapped Emmett on the back.

"Tough luck, Em."

Emmett glared sulkily at him, then turned to me. "Best four out of five?"

I laughed, amused. It was easy to get along with Emmett. "Nah. Why don't you play Jasper?"

Emmett, now with a new target, turned quickly and raised a brow in challenge.

"You're on." Jasper said, and grabbed the controller from me. I shook my head at their playful competitiveness, and then suddenly felt the happiness that playing had brought drain away. These people were so happy together, had made such a great life with each other. I stared, almost blindly, at the two couples. Alice was cheering on Jasper, and Rosalie was standing next to Emmett, calling out advice.

Esme put her hand on my shoulder, bringing me back. "What's wrong, dear?"

I sighed. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

She frowned in concern. "You know," she said slowly. "It can be hard to be different… Carlisle would know that better than many of us, but…." She sighed. "If you ever need to talk, you can come to one of us, you know that, right?"

I glanced back at her; she seemed so sincere. "Alright." I heard myself whisper. She smiled. "Um, I'd like to … ask Carlisle a few questions… where…?"

"He's upstairs in his study." Esme smiled, then gestured for me to follow her. We left the sounds of the game behind and headed up the magnificent staircase. We quickly stepped down the hallway, then Esme knocked on the second door on the right.

"Come in," Carlisle said. Esme opened the door, and he smiled with warm love at her, then turned a kind smile to me.

"Esme, Bella, what can I do for you?"

"Bella has a few questions she would like to ask you." Esme placed a hand reassuringly on my shoulder.

"Of course. Why don't you sit down?" Carlisle gestured to a seat across from his desk. I went to sit down; I heard as Esme left, the door clicking shut behind her.

"What is it you want to know, Bella?"

I looked down at my hands, which were folded in my lap. "Um… what led you… to…" I gestured around, then let my hand fall back down. "This." I finished inadequately.

He smiled kindly. "Ah. You want to know what led me to choosing to be a vegetarian?" He leaned back, and his eyes strayed behind me. When I followed his gaze, I saw a wall covered in pictures. In one of them, a big, brightly painted one, I recognized Aro, Marcus, and Caius standing next to Carlisle himself.

"I was born in London, in the early sixteen-forties or so, and was the only son of an Anglican pastor. As the Protestants came into power, he was enthusiastic in his persecution of the Roman Catholics and other religions, and also believed strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves, and vampires. A lot of innocent people were killed, as of course the real thing was much more difficult to catch.

"When my father grew old, he placed me in charge of the raids. I suppose I was a disappointment to him; I wasn't nearly as quick to accuse or see demons where they didn't exist. I was beginning to have doubts in his particular brand of faith, I suppose. Yet I was persistent, and eventually found a coven of _true_ vampires living under the sewers of the city. They only came out at night to hunt, as in those days that was the way many lived. The people gathered their torches and pitchforks and waited until the first one emerged.

"He must have been ancient, and weak with hunger. He called out in Latin to the others when he caught sight of us, then ran through the streets. I was twenty-three, fast, and at the front of the chase. He could have easily outrun us, but I believe he was too hungry, so turned and attacked. He fell on me first, but the rest of the mob was close behind, and he turned to defend himself. Two men were killed, and he made off with a third, leaving me bleeding on the street.

"I knew what my father would do; the bodies would be burned because anything infected had to be destroyed. I reacted instinctively to save my own life and dragged myself to the alley while the rest chase after the fiend and his victim. I his in a cellar, buried myself in rotting potatoes for three days. It was a miracle I managed to stay silent for those three horrible days. When it was over, I realized what I had become.

"I… rebelled against it. For a long while, I tried to destroy myself. I jumped from great heights, attempted to drown myself… but nothing worked. I resisted feeding, being so repulsed with myself, and hoped to kill myself with starvation. But of course that didn't work. I simply grew weak, and very hungry. I stayed far from human population, realizing my willpower was weakening. I wandered by night for months, seeking the loneliest places, loathing myself." He was silent for a while. I was captivated by his story.

"One night, a herd of dear passed through my hiding place. I was so wild with thirst that I attacked without thought. My strength returned and I realized there was an alternative to being the monster I feared. Never, in all my years, have I seen anything to make me doubt the existence of a God, in some form or another. Not even the reflection in the mirror. I hoped - I still do - that there is a point to this life, even for us. It's a long shot, I'll admit," he grinned at me. "By all accounts, we're damned regardless. But I hope, maybe foolishly, that we'll get some measure of credit for trying.

"Over the next few months, my new philosophy was created; I could exist without being a demon and I found myself again. I had unlimited time before me, and studied by night, planned by day. I swam to France and continued through Europe, to the universities there. By night, I studied music, science, medicine - and found my calling, in saving human lives. It took me nearly two centuries to perfect my control enough that I was all but immune to the scent of human blood. Now I am able to do the work I love without agony. I find a great deal of peace in the hospital…."

He turned back to smile at me. "When I was studying in Italy, I discovered others there, who were much more civilized and educated than the wraiths in London. I stayed with them for only a short time, just a few decades. I greatly admired their civility, their refinement, but, as I'm sure you can guess, they persisted in trying to cure my aversion to 'my natural food source,' as they referred to it. I, too, tried to persuade them, to no avail. At that point, I decided to try the New World. I dreamed of finding others like myself. You see, I was very lonely.

"For a long time, I didn't find anyone. But as monsters became the things of legends and fairy tales, I was able to interact with unsuspecting humans as if I were one of them. I began practicing medicine, but the companionship I craved continued to evade me, as I couldn't risk familiarity.

"When the influenza epidemic hit, I was working nights in Chicago. It was a hard time to pretend, to go home and stay locked away when so many were dying. For many years, I'd been turning over the idea of creating my own companion, and I had almost decided to act. I wasn't absolutely certain how my own transformation had occurred, so I was hesitant, and I was loathe to steal anyone's life as mine had. It was, and is, the one part I can never be sure of. I _think_, in most ways, that I've done the best I could with what I had to work with. But was it right to doom the others to this life? I can't decide. It was in that frame of mind that I found Edward."

I jerked slightly as if shocked as he said that. He watched me without expression at that for a moment before continuing in a whisper, as if lost in thought.

"It was his mother that made up my mind. Her name was Elizabeth, Elizabeth Masen. His father, Edward Senior, never regained consciousness in the hospital and dies in the first wave of influenza. But Elizabeth was alert to almost the very end. Edward looked a great deal like her - she had that same strange bronze shade to her hair, and her eyes were exactly the same color green."

"His eyes were green?" I murmured, trying to picture it. Green, the color of this dreary place, was the color of the bronze god's eyes? It gave the color the whole new meaning in my eyes. Faintly, I felt panic at the emotions I had been trying to bury since one of the first days I seen him. But the longer I was here, the more and more difficult it became.

"Yes…" Carlisle's ocher eyes were a hundred years away now. "Elizabeth hurt her own chances of survival by trying to nurse him from her sickbed; she worried over him obsessively. I expected he would go first, he was so worse off than she was. When the end came for her, it was quick. It was just after sunset, and I'd arrived to relieve the doctors who'd been working all day.

"I went to check Elizabeth and her son first; I'd grown attached - always a dangerous thing to do considering the fragile nature of humans. I could see at once she'd taken a turn for the worse. The fever was raging out of control and her body was too weak to fight anymore.

"She didn't look weak, though, when she glared up at me from her cot.

"'Save him!' she commanded me in the hoarse voice that was all her throat could manage.

"'I'll do everything in my power,' I promised her, taking her hand. The fever was so high, she probably couldn't even tell how unnaturally cold mine felt. Everything felt cold to her skin.

"'You must,' she insisted, clutching at my hand with enough strength that I wondered if she wouldn't pull through after all. Her eyes were hard, like stones, like emeralds. 'You must do everything in _your_ power. What others cannot do, that is what you must do for my Edward.'

"It frightened me. She looked at me with those piercing eyes, and, for one instant, I felt certain that she knew my secret. Then the fever overwhelmed her, and she never regained consciousness, and died within an hour of making her demand.

"As I said, I'd spent decades considering turning another, a companion for myself. Just one other creature who could really know me, rather than what I pretended to be. But I could never justify it to myself - doing what had been done to me . There lay Edward, dying. It was clear he had only hours left. Beside him, his mother, her face somehow not yet peaceful, even in death."

Carlisle was seeing it all again, his memory unblurred by the intervening century. I could see it clearly, too, as he spoke - the despair of the hospital, the overwhelming atmosphere of death. Edward burning with fever, his life slipping away with each tick of the clock… I shuddered at the images and forced my thoughts away.

"Elizabeth's words echoed in my head. How could she guess what I could do? Could anyone really want that for her son?

"I looked at Edward. Sick as he was, he was still beautiful. There was something pure and good about his face, the kind of face I would have wanted my son to have.

"After all those years of indecision, I simply acted on a whim. I wheeled him mother to the morgue fast, and then I came back for him. No one noticed that he was still breathing; there weren't enough hands, enough eyes, to keep track of half of what the patients needed. The morgue was empty - of the living, at least - and I stole him out the back door and carried him across the rooftops back to my home.

"I wasn't sure what had to be done, so I settled for recreating the wounds I received myself. I felt bad about that later; it was more painful and lingering than necessary.

"I wasn't sorry though. I've never been sorry that I saved Edward." He shook his head, coming back to the present, and smiled at me. "It is impossible, when I look at him, to doubt what I believed in the first place. How could there not be a heaven for one such as Edward, one as good as him?"

I found myself nodding in agreement. If there really was a heaven, then it would have to admit Edward. I hadn't found one thing about him that wouldn't allow admittance. Besides, no matter what this family had done, I'd committed so, _so _much worse.

"Shortly after, I found Esme, nearly dead after a cliff accident. Then was Rosalie, whom I hope to be for Edward what Esme was for me. But she found Emmett at the scene of a bear mauling, and brought him all the way to me to change, afraid she wouldn't be able to do it herself. Alice and Jasper joined out family next, two oddities who developed a conscious on their own. I won't take it on myself to tell you their stories. We'd be here for at least another four hours if I did." He smiled. I smiled back, but looked down at my hands.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of, Bella. You didn't know of this life-style. And Alice and Jasper are at different advantages than you to have gone that way without my guidance."

"But you knew better." I murmured, feeling wretched.

He was silent for a long minute, and I was afraid that he'd finally noticed that I was a monster in every sense of the word. I was afraid that at any moment, any one of them would come in and say what I already knew - that I was a horrible creature that didn't deserve their company.

"Everyone of us has slipped up, or come close to, in some way, Bella. It is not what we are, but what we choose to do, that decides who we are. Am I right in assuming you wouldn't mind joining our lifestyle?"

I nodded, unable to speak. These people had been inexplicably kind to me, a complete stranger who days ago had been willing to kill them. But even as I thought that, I wondered if it was true. I'd been fighting the idea since I'd first seen them. If I was being completely honest, I knew I'd been fighting the idea since I'd first seen Edward. If it _had_ come to killing them, would I have really been able to do it?

Suddenly, a knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts. Carlisle glanced up, but didn't say anything and the door opened. Edward glanced quickly at me, then focused on Carlisle. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Edward, would you mind showing Bella to her car? I believe she wants to go home now." He smiled at me with such warmness that I was slightly taken aback. "And I doubt Rosalie wants her to take it back, and Alice would try to keep her even longer than she has been here."

Edward nodded silently, and turned. I rose, then paused, uncertain. Carlisle came around the desk and shook my hand. "I hope you come back soon, Bella. Perhaps we could take you hunting with us sometime, yes?"

I smiled slightly. "I'd like that, Dr. Cullen. Thank you."

"Carlisle, dear. No need to be formal."

I smiled a bit more. "Carlisle." I corrected.

Downstairs, Alice came up. "You're leaving?" she asked sadly.

I nodded. "I need to go home, change, get my things for school."

Jasper came up and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Well it was nice to have you over," he said in that slow slight drawl of his.

"It was nice to come."

Emmett grabbed me up in a big bear hug. "You need to acme back for a re-match, Bells. I swear it was a fluke that you beta _me_."

I laughed. "You name the time and place and I'll be there."

Rosalie came forward, somewhat stiffly. "Bye Bella."

"Bye Rosalie. Hey, would you mind if I brought my Arrow over? I heard you were great with cars."

She smiled, and it was more warm than before. "If I'm allowed to drive it after I fix it, then sure."

I laughed. "Deal."

Esme enveloped me in a warm hug. "Come back for a visit soon, honey. It was nice to have you over." Then, just for my ears, she added, "I hope you were able to get some of your questions answered."

"Thank you, Esme. I'll have to bring my Arrow by sometime, so I'll be by eventually."

I followed Edward out the door, to my Maserati, and quickly slipped into the driver's seat. The keys were in the ignition already, and when I turned them, the car purred to life. I relaxed back in my seat, then glanced out the window at him.

"Bye, Edward." I said with stiff politeness.

He simply nodded, and then turned back towards the house. For some reason, I was incredibly disappointed and sad, but I tried not to dwell on those thoughts. Because they could only logically mean one thing.

I was in love with Edward Cullen.

And that would lead to too many problems to count.


	8. Ch 8 Cars, Racing, and Tickets

-1**Ah. What happened? I got twenty for chapter six, but only eleven reviews for seven! I know more of you are reading this! There's over 1500 hits! It doesn't matter what you say in the review, I just like hearing from my readers! Okay, things are hectic in my life (my friend, well, she's being dumb, to put it nicely, and my bio teacher still has it out for me, and Alg 2 is getting harder…) so if it takes me a while to update, I sincerely apologize. Thanks to everyone who reads and who reviews! **

EPOV

I opened the door to Carlisle's study and saw Bella sitting there. I refused to respond in any way to her presence, as I was still trying to come to terms with it. The Volturi were the family she had referred to? It explained why she had always seemed to dodge questions about herself. She was pretty much here undercover. Carlisle knew the Volturi from before he had come to the New World. And now only one question was on my mind… why was she _really _here?

"Edward, would you mind showing Bella to her car? I believe she wants to go home now." _She is probably a little overwhelmed at the moment._ He turned to smile warmly at her. From the corner of my eye, I watched as a flash of surprise crossed her face before it turned polite.

"And I doubt Rosalie wants her to take it back, and Alice would try to keep her even longer than she has been here." he said, amused. _Don't be too harsh on her Edward. I don't think she's here for some evil purpose or something. She's extremely kind. _

I nodded and headed out the door. I could hear Carlisle tell her not to call him Dr. Cullen, and invite her to hunt with us some time. I waited at the front door as she came downstairs, her deep brown hair hiding her face as she watched where she stepped. It seemed to be something she did all the time unconsciously, and I wondered why. Alice bounded up to her.

"You're leaving? _I wanted to give her a make-over before school started…_ she thought, disappointed.

Bella nodded. "I need to go home, change, get my things for school."

Jasper stepped forward, placing his hands gently and lovingly on Alice's shoulders. "Well it was nice to have you over." _I like her. She's nice, and she doesn't seem to feel any vicious emotions towards any of us…_

"It was nice to come." Bella replied.

Emmett stepped over and grabbed her up in a hug, lifting her a few inches off the ground briefly. "You need to come back for a re-match, Bells. I swear, it was a fluke that you beat _me_." _Besides, she's the only one around here that can't use powers to get an upper hand. Alice sees the future, Jaz can make you feel all slow and stuff, and Edward reads minds, probably like he is right now…_

I rolled my eyes at him. Bella laughed, and the soft sound was like music. "You name the time and place and I'll be there."

_I don't know what to think of her… she's alright, I guess, but possessive of her cars… I mean, it's not like _I'd_ break one like that guy did._ Rosalie stepped forward, a little resentful and jealous. "Bye Bella."

"Bye Rosalie. Listen, would you mind if I brought my Arrow over? I heard you were great with cars." Her lips twitched as she said that, but a slight frown was between her brows. Though her thoughts were a mystery to me, I could tell she was upset about the car's condition.

_I wonder if she'll let me drive it then… I could always use the excuse of needing to do a test run, and prove I can handle her car…_ "If I'm allowed to drive it after I fix it, then sure."

Again, Bella laughed, a smile lighting up her face. "Deal." Maybe she wasn't as car possessive as she hinted at. That, or she trusted Rose not to kill the vehicle.

Esme stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. _She's such a sweet girl… I wonder if she'd want to join our family, if the hunting animals works out for her… I should talk to Carlisle about it tonight…_ "Come back for a visit soon, honey. It was nice to have you over." Then she whispered something softly before pulling away.

"Thank you, Esme. I'll have to bring my Arrow by sometime, so I'll be by eventually." Esme practically beamed at this, already planning on what needed to be done before Bella came back. First on her mind was having Emmett clean up his and Rose's room, which was a mess.

Bella turned toward the door, and me, her eyes immediately looking away from mine. I turned and led the way out to the garage, where her Maserati was parked. She opened the door, turned it on, and relaxed back in her seat as the engine purred to life. Then she glanced out the window at me, her whole posture stiffening. "Bye Edward." The politeness in her tone was forced.

I simply nodded, not trusting myself to speak without saying something insulting or rash or embarrassing, then turned to head back to the house. A moment later, her car pulled away, disappearing down the drive.

As I stepped back inside, Alice jumped up to glare at me. Rose, Emmett, and Jasper came to stand behind her, all disapproving.

"Edward, you idiot, _what _are you thinking?" She jumped up to slap the back of my head. I leaned away, glaring at her. _Vicious little pixie._

"You can't be mad at her for not telling she was in the Volturi, can you?" Emmett sounded shocked. "I mean, what was she supposed to say? Besides… if you scare her away, who am I supposed to play Wii with?"

I huffed and tried shrugged past my siblings. "I am not doing anything. I have no clue what you all are talking about." A plain lie; their thoughts screamed what I did wrong, in their eyes.

Alice snorted. "Oh, yeah, not speaking one word to her and refusing to get to know her is perfectly normal when being polite." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Jasper sent waves of calm to all of us.

Rose put her hand on her hip. "Jeez, Edward. I mean, I'm not saying I love her or anything, but you're treating her like a pariah."

I glared at her. "You just want to drive her cars."

Rosalie glared back. "Yeah, but I also didn't treat her like she was some plague!"

Alice, Jasper, and Emmett all nodded their agreement. With a growl, I pushed past them and went upstairs to my room. I turned on the stereo, which started to play Hotel California **(AN: This song is kinda old, but I love it. Eagles.)**, and sat on the couch, staring in the distance and thinking.

BPOV

I glanced again at the clock on the wall. "Aaron, come _on_!" I yelled, stressing the two syllables in his name. "We have to go _now_!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he muttered, coming around the corner. "Who knew homework could be so hard?" he added under his breath.

Cate laughed loudly. "Everyone. Except you, of course, but that's a given."

He glared at her. "Shut up." Then he turned pleading eyes to me. "Do I _have_ to go? Can't you say I quit, or got sick, or died or something?"

Heidi answered for me without looking up from her book. "Sure. If you don't mind explaining why we let Bella leave without you when she needs the protection to Aro."

Aaron groaned, and I glared. "I don't _need _'protection'." I whined again. "I'm perfectly able to take care of myself."

Heidi shrugged. "What Aro says, goes."

The three of us stepped out the door. "Aro Haters Anonymous sounds better all the time." I muttered lowly. Cate and Aaron nodded in complete agreement.

I drove the Maserati to Forks High School, pulling up next to the silver Volvo. "I should have let Aaron drive it," I muttered to Cate. She snorted in laughter before heading to her first class. Out of no where, Alice jumped over.

"Hi Bella!" she chirped. How she managed to be happy at school, I'd never know…. "I was just wondering if you'd sit with us at lunch? Your friends can too." she added, though more as an after thought. I glanced at Aaron.

"Um, nah, I was going to sit outside today… the caf gets a little too… stuffy." He shifted uncomfortably, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

_"Stuffy…" _I thought unhappily; I hadn't realized it was this hard for him. I wondered if Cate was having troubles, too.

I shrugged, and faced Alice. "Sure, I suppose. If you guys don't mind."

She laughed, the sound like wind chimes. "Silly Bella. Of course we won't mind. We can't wait to see you again!"

I glanced at her suspiciously, doubting a certain someone would want me at the table. She seemed to know what direction my thoughts were headed, as she added, "Just ignore anyone who's being stupid. I do it all the time."

The warning bell rang, and she turned to leave, waving over her shoulder. "See you at lunch Bells."

I sighed and headed to class, sitting down just before the teacher started talking. Mike leaned across the row to whisper to me; I hadn't even realized he was next to me.

"Hey, Bella. You're sitting with us at lunch, right?"

I tried hard not to smirk. "No, actually. Alice wants me to sit with her."

"Alice _Cullen?!_"

I nodded, facing front, trying to act like I was paying attention.

"Oh… well, are you going to the dance Saturday?"

I hadn't even known there _was_ a dance. "No."

"Why?"

Did he have to be so annoying and persistent in his bugging me? "Because I have plans."

"With the Cullens?"

I finally lost any patience with him and whipped around to glare at him. "Mike, that is not your business, it's mine, and I'd appreciate you pulling your nose out of it!" I snapped in a furious hiss. He pulled back, shocked and frightened. With a soft growl of annoyance, I twisted back to face front.

I walked into the lunch room, Cate and Aaron slightly behind me, whispering too low for me to hear. I was beginning to become suspicious of them, and Heidi. Though I'd almost forgotten before, now I wondered just what they'd been arguing about the other night. I walked through the line, grabbing a juice and sandwich; Aaron and Cate just grabbed apples and sodas.

"So, we're heading outside, Bells. Sure you don't mind, or want to join us?" Cate asked again.

I glanced towards the Cullen table, where Alice was sitting, watching us.

"Yeah, go enjoy the wet." I joked with them, gently shoving her shoulder. They both grinned at me, and then quickly headed outside. I sighed, then started to the table. I was nervous as I neared it; again, the thought of how they were so much better than me by resisting their thirst intruded and undermined my usual confidence.

_Stupid, let's-not-tell-Bella-she-doesn't-have-to-kill-innocents Aro and his stupid, 'natural diet'._

Jasper sent a wave of calm at me, and I smiled in thanks. He nodded, then returned to staring out a window. I sat next to Alice, as she was the only one I was positive wanted me here. Emmett soon sat down too, Rosalie right behind him. She smiled when she saw me.

"Hi, Bella. Why don't you bring the Arrow over on Saturday? I can get it done probably by that night… or later, depending on if I have to order anything." She grinned.

I laughed. "Well, you might have to order windows. I need them tinted, and that always takes a while."

She nodded. "That's fine, with me. You?"

I rolled my eyes. "I get an excuse to drive the Maserati around, and you're asking if I mind? No."

Emmett laughed. "Well, that'll work great! We can have our re-match!"

I snorted. "Come on Emmett. I'll just win again."

"Besides," Alice added. "You broke the control, didn't you, when you lost to Jaz?"

Emmett glared and pouted at the same time. I had no idea how he did that, but it was extremely funny. "Then how am I to prove to Bella here that I am indeed the better game player?"

I shrugged. "I'll race you."

All four pairs of eyes snapped onto me.

"Wha-" Emmett started, but then stopped as Edward sat down as far from me as possible. I tensed briefly, hurt and angry, then ignored the feelings and raised a brow at Emmett, asking him to continue.

"Um…oh, yeah! What do you mean, race?"

I grinned. "You guys have fast cars, right?" At their slow nods, I continued. "Well, then…" I trailed off suggestively. Rosalie's eyes lit up.

"You mean street race?"

I laughed. "Sure, though we can do it on back roads, too. Then it's more of a drag race. But the same concept, yes."

Emmett punched his fist in the air. "Oh, hell yes! I'm in!"

I grinned, warming up to the idea. "We can be in teams, get the whole family in on it. We could do almost any way… girls vs. guys or just partner up and do eliminations until one team wins or just go one at a time until there's two left and have a showdown like thing." I shrugged. "I'm not picky."

Jasper laughed. "You sure do have fun with your cars, don't you Bella?"

I snickered. "You haven't heard about my motorcycle tickets." This time even Edward's eyes flicked onto me.

"Do tell." Rosalie drawled.

I was sure I'd be blushing if I were still human. "Well…"

"Please!" Alice gave me her puppy eyes, and I felt my resistance caving in.

"Alright," I sighed. As Alice and Emmett cheered, I added, "You two are _so _immature…"

Jasper ruffled Alice's hair, which pointed in every direction. "It's why we love them so much." Then everyone focused on me; Edward even was looking at me in interest. I dropped my gaze to the table.

"Okay, well, you see, I was racing Aaron, and when I slowed to turn, he crashed his bike into mine. I flew off; if I'd been human, I'd have probably had a concussion and bitten off my tongue. Anyways, the bike was totaled, and Aro decided it was too dangerous to keep around. I _did_ point out that Aaron was the one who crashed into _me_, but I was the one who had to get rid of the bike.

"So, I went out of town, fixed it up, then went for a test-drive. Only, every time I exceeded one hundred, it wobbled. So I kept going out to see if I'd fixed it yet, when one day this cop pulled me over.

"I ended up in court, since stupid Aro decided I should - and I quote - 'learn my lesson'. The judge, she was all, "Officer, what do you mean by 140 plus?"

"So he told her I'd been going over the hundred he was doing.

"I decided to be a smart-aleck - the officer was a jerk - and was all 'Your honor. Wasn't there an article in the paper saying those cars couldn't go over ninety?' He had this older vehicle, that really couldn't.

"So the judge, she turned to him and he goes 'Well mine can. Mine does.' again and again. She just was all 'Mm-hm.' and turned back to me.

"Then she asked me how fast I thought I was going. So I said, 'Uhm, high eighties, low nineties.' I had to pay a fine and she told me she didn't want to see me back again." I stopped for a moment.

"Well that's not too funny." Emmett whined.

I grinned. "Who said that was the end?" I took a moment, then started again.

"Alright, so, a week later I was back. With the same judge. It really wasn't my lucky week, apparently.

"So she was all 'Officer. I'm going to ask you what I asked the last guy. _What_ do you mean by 140 plus?!'

The guy responded, 'Well, your honor, I was doing 120, and he was leaving me in his dust like I was barely moving.'

"I was thinking, 'Well, shit,' when she turned her gaze to me. I quickly put up my hand saying, 'I can explain.'

"All sarcastic like she said, 'Please do.' and settled back to hear my story.

"So I told her about the accident and fixing it up and everything. Then I was all 'But I don't have the bike anymore.'

"She was all 'Really? Who does?' I told her and she just kind of dropped her head, then said, 'That's my neighbor'. I laughed and told her it was really loud."

I paused, frowning. "About two months later, the dude I sold the bike to blew it up."

The Cullens started laughing.

"He blew it up?" Rose sounded horrified, yet amused.

I nodded. "He apparently decided that I was to fix it for him, but no go. He murdered it."

Emmett shook his head. "That's classic. I love it. You should write a book of tragic car incidents, Bells."

I rolled my eyes. "There haven't been _that_ many yet Emmett."

Alice smile at me. "I'm in for the racing. Maybe Carlisle and Esme will join!"

Jasper grinned at her, then nudged her ribs. "Like you don't already know!" he teased.

She grinned at him, but didn't answer.

Everyone at the table enthusiastically agreed.

"What about you, Edward?" Emmett asked.

"Sure. It sounds fun."

I rolled my eyes. If his siblings weren't all staring him down, I wondered if he'd really say that. Besides, he didn't sound at all eager.

"How about Sunday, then? That way Rose can fix up your Arrow a bit first?"

I smiled at Alice. "No probs. I got it all set."

"Are you going to bring Cate and Aaron." Rosalie asked.

I slowly raised a brow. "Aaron is a jinx when it comes to cars, and Cate doesn't know how to drive. She never learned, I don't know why. And I don't think they'll want to come…"

I also didn't really want them there. I wanted to get to know these Cullens, and those two would be all 'Aro said protect Bella' on me. No thanks. I can take care of myself; also, I think I'd be safe with a psychic and mind-reader around.

She nodded, and I got the sense that all of them would prefer it that way. I sighed as I realized these great plans would have to wait until the weekend, still a day away. "Well… I suppose I should be getting to class," I muttered, rising. Everyone - with one outstanding exception - said bye, as I threw away my untouched tray.

I walked slowly to biology, not entirely eager to sit next to Edward Cullen, yet at the same time wanting to be close, even if he hated me.

I really liked hanging out with the Cullens. Even if they were better than me, I felt at home with them, like I vaguely remembered feeling with my mom. It was comfortable, enjoyable, something I could most definitely get used to. I spent a few moments wondering if Aro'd let me go, to live with them, but decided that I wouldn't dwell on that for now. He was too unpredictable for me to answer it, and I already knew what Marcus and Caius, especially, would say. It wasn't what I wanted to hear. Instead, I wondered when the Cullens would be hunting next, and if I would be able to last without another feeding until then. I sure hoped so; even when I tried to kill the worst people I could find, I never felt entirely guilt-free. It was still taking a life. But I had to do the best with what I was given… only I now knew that I could do even better.

I was starting to be glad that Victoria had tried to kill me (though I was still surprised that she had done so without my hearing even a whisper of it) and that Aro had sent me to this little dreary, rain-drowned town. If he hadn't, I wouldn't have ever met the Cullens and discovered an alternative to the being the monster I was.

_Of course_, I thought, frowning. _It probably won't be easy… Carlisle said it took him two centuries to build up enough resistance to be able to work in the hospital… and I want to be able to never take another life again, unless I absolutely have to. I want that kind of control. And I don't think it'll come easy._

The thought was depressing. I was rather used to instant gratification, though I knew I wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other Volturi, who couldn't wait five seconds for something. Like Jane, who loved to use her mental torture talent on anyone who didn't do what she wanted fast enough for her taste. I grimaced in distaste. She was definitely one of my favorite people to annoy, even more so because she couldn't do anything about it.

I sat in my seat in biology, smiling at Angela when she waved. _Sweet girl…_ I thought vaguely.

I heard the chair scrape slightly against the floor when Edward took his seat. I sighed, draping my hair over my right shoulder between us. Mike walked in, coming straight to me.

"Bella, are you sure you can't go to the dance Saturday?"

I sighed heavily, not even looking at him. "_Yes_, Mike. I have to take my car to get fixed." I wasn't lying, and at the same time, not telling him I was going to the Cullens. Perfect answer.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, I forgot your other car got torn up. Well, what about Sunday?! I heard there's this new restaurant in Port Angeles, and I thought you might want to go check it out with-"

I was resisting the urge to growl, and opened my mouth to tell him to leave me alone, when Edward cut him off.

"Newton, she won't go out with you. Stop bothering her with your pestering. Besides. She has plans with me and my siblings on Sunday." I could hear a smirk in his voice.

Mike and I both stared at him. Then Mike turned to face me, hurt on his face.

"Is it true, Bella?"

I didn't know which part he was talking about, and decided to let him know that. "Which part? That I won't go out with you, or that I have plans with the Cullens on Sunday?"

"Uhmm…"

I decided to save him the breath of saying both. "Cause, I've already told you, no, I won't go out with you. Ever. And yes, I do have plans to hang with the Cullens on Sunday. I have a re-match to settle with Emmett after beating him at Wii the other night."

Mike's eyes bugged. "You were at their house?!"

I raised a brow and offered him a 'duh' expression. He turned a little red, and I felt a slight stirring of the thirst in me. I quickly looked away.

I could feel Edward's gaze on me. "Leave her alone already, Newton." he said with an edge.

Mike mumbled a bye and I listened as he sat down. I was afraid to look at Edward; he, at least, knew what a monster I was. Triggered by a simple blush from a boy only a few feet from me. Though I wanted to appear as good as his family, especially to him, I knew it was impossible. And the thought was saddening, because how could anyone love a monster?

"Bella." he said softly, his finger suddenly under my chin and lifting my face to see his. I don't know why, I could have stopped him, but I let him. Perhaps because the feel of him touching me sent pleasant zings of electricity shooting through me.

His dark gold eyes were surprisingly gentle. He started to say something, then stopped. With a sigh, he removed his hand, instead running it through those gorgeous bronze locks. I felt slight remorse at the loss of contact.

"Bella… it's okay, you know."

I knew what he was talking about, even if he didn't say it. I turned my face away. "No, it really isn't, Edward." I muttered. He was quiet, and then Mr. Banner started lecturing and he didn't speak. I took meticulous notes all through class, even though I actually remembered most of this subject from when I was in high school as a human. When the bell rang, I started packing my things, still not looking at Edward. I was afraid to see if he'd come to his senses about the whole me-being-a-monster thing.

Instead, when I stood up, he was waiting for me. I blinked at him, surprised. He smiled slightly, not the crooked grin I loved, but a small, reassuring one, gently touched my arm, then left the room.

Leaving me standing in shock wondering what the hell had just happened.

**Ha. Okay, I've managed to take a shower after planting shrubbery for three hours today and getting up early, and doing other work, and though it's taken me a while to write this (I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen, but the characters all told me what to do) I've finally finished. So I did manage to get it up today! Yay! Please review, you guys have NO idea how much I appreciate even the smallest feedback. I'll try to update soon, should be interesting. I have some car research ahead of me…XD Laughs and Hugs!**

**PS. Oh! And the ticket story I told up there? Yeah… it happened actually… to my dad. The first cop was all threatening him after the trial too! Only the Judge caught him…XD I don't think he got off easy. It's hilarious to hear my dad tell it… one of my fav stories about him.**


	9. Ch 9 Car Ride

-1**Here it is! Chapter nine, I believe. I actually did have fun researching my cars… I watched a show on SPEED and that's where I found the Lexus… awesome car. They did a mock car chase with this stunt driver, and it was great. I think I should use that show for future car searching! XD Anyways, thanks to my reviewers, I love ya guys! Keep it up! Tons of homework crashing rudely into me and my life, and … DUN DUN DUNNN!! STAR testing. Ick. Can't wait till I never have to do it again. After that, things should slow down a bit at school. The way I see it, I only have seven weeks left. Seven. Then I'm on summer break. But, if updates start turning more sporadic and the wait gets long (kinda like this one… sorry!), I apologize. Truly. **

**But anyways… read, enjoy, please review. Hip-pip-adidali-do. XD**

**Oh… and for those who want to know… the concert rocked. Alex from The Cabs? He grew up in my hometown! Who knew cool people could come from here?! lol. We The Kings were great… as was Valencia. Okay. Onwards!**

I decided I officially hated the sun as of today.

Being stuck inside with Cate and Aaron, who both were doing homework and loathing every second of it, was not my idea of a good time. Heidi had long ago locked herself away in a room across the suite. I groaned and stood up, beginning to pace from boredom for the tenth time in the last hour.

Cate glanced up in annoyance. "Bella, please, _stop it_. You're driving me crazy with all that pacing. Can't you read or something?"

I glared at her. "No, because I've already done that, Cate. And you refuse to let me listen to any music."

"Yeah, well, this play needs my complete focus, it's so dull!"

Aaron snorted, not looking up from his Trig book. "Well, apparently you have enough focus left over to keep humming that Maneater song. It's driving me bonkers."

Without looking up from her book, she manipulated the pencil on the table nearby, launching it across the room at Aaron. He ducked closer to his book, peering with a frown at a problem, and the yellow stick of wood lodged itself in the wall right behind his head, quivering as it stopped halfway.

I gave it a curious glance, then heaved a huge sigh.

Cate growled in annoyance. "I can't take it anymore! _What_, may I ask, was _so _great about Shakespeare? All he did was ramble!"

"He's classic, and was popular back in the day. His stories are all tragedies, and I _believe _it's a standard in schools for teens to cover a lot of his works." Aaron answered while writing down a problem's solution.

Cate glared, then threw the book, without using her hands, across the room. I raised a brow at her.

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"Nothing," I muttered, moving to sit on a stool in the kitchen area. Already, my Volturi friends were getting short-tempered. It had to be an unwritten requirement to have no patience if you were in the Volturi. Aaron was a little more patient, but I believed that had something to do with his light heartedness, more than any actual effort on his part. Things just didn't get to him as easily as others. Heidi was more a loner, and was often away from the Volturi for long periods of time, because of her "hunting". Cate… I didn't know what she really did, because she tended to keep to herself, one of the reasons we got along so well. And who _didn't _get along with Aaron?

But they weren't, really, my _friends_. They were just the closest thing I had. Eventually, we'd get on each other's nerves enough that we'd not talk for a few months, then start all over again.

I'd never really noticed before how lonely my existence was. A twinge of jealousy shot through me; the Cullens had _no_ idea how lucky they were.

Suddenly, the room darkened, as the sun apparently hid behind a cloud, and the faint shimmers from all our skin faded away. I didn't hesitate, as I had been waiting for this to happen. I dashed from the room, out the front door, grabbing my little black bag as I went, before running inhumanly fast - yet still slow for me - down the stairs and out to the lobby. I hurried, even slower, outside to where I had parked the Maserati and closed the door behind me. I was grinning hugely in triumph, just as the sun broke free.

I had just escaped my Volturi guard for the weekend. Maybe longer if I was lucky.

I continued to speed towards Forks. Hopefully, the Cullens wouldn't mind me popping up at their doorway unexpectedly like this. I knew Esme and Alice wouldn't, and Emmett would try to find some way to have a faster re-match and still have the racing. Carlisle didn't seem to mind me much, and Jasper and Rose… I hoped they wouldn't mind either. Edward… well, who knew what was going through that gorgeous bronze god's head?

Suddenly unsure if what I was planning on doing was acceptable or rude, I pulled over to the shoulder of the road. Maybe it would be better, safer, if I simply went for a hike or something. That way, I wouldn't be intruding but could still be away from the three Volturi for a while. I was just about to pull back onto the road and head off for a distant, barley populated forest area when my blackberry rang.

Frowning, I glanced at the unfamiliar number, then cautiously answered.

"Hello?" I slowly asked.

"Bella! Why do I see you running off to a park instead of coming over here?! Please! Everyone's waiting for you!"

I blinked; obviously, Alice wanted me over. Also, she obviously somehow found out my number. I'd have to ask her about that sometime….

"Are you sure? I can always go for a hike…"

"No!" she practically shouted; I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "_Please?"_ she begged. "How are we supposed to get to know you if you don't come hang out with us? A lot." She did have a point.

"I don't want to intrude…" I really didn't, yet the idea of hanging out with the Cullens was incredibly appealing. It seemed possible that they actually might be my first _real_ friends in years. And that was something I found I wanted with a surprising ferocity.

"Pfft!" I could almost see her rolling her eyes. "How can you intrude if I just said we want you over here? Everyone loves you and enjoys you being around! Now get your ass over here pronto!"

I laughed. "Alright. You convinced me. I'll be there in a few."

Her squeal of delight was cut off as we hung up; I shook my head in good-natured amusement.

When I finally pulled up in front of their house about fifteen minutes later, a small black and white blur raced to my car and began bouncing up and down as I got out.

"YayBellayou'reherenowwecangoshoppingandgiveyouamakeover!"

Even with my superior hearing, it took me a while to take in and process all she said. When it did, I nearly groaned.

"Shopping? Again, Alice?" I asked desperately. "Why?"

She gave me a 'duh' look. "Because you're staying until Monday, at least, and only brought one change of clothes!"

I sighed heavily. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"Nope!" she chirped, obviously ecstatic.

"Great…" I groaned; she simply laughed, the sound like wind chimes.

As soon as we walked in the door, Emmett grabbed me up in a hug that lifted me a few inches off the ground.

"Bells! You came early! Hey…" He set me down. "Do you happen to know how to fix a Wii controller?"

"Uh… no. Alec and Demetri wouldn't let most people - namely Aaron - touch theirs', so they never broke."

He looked horribly disappointed. "Ah, darn. Hey, are you going to race your Maserati?"

I grinned. "Maybe. I haven't really decided." As I spoke Rosalie came over.

His eyes bugged. "Do you mean you have _more_ cars?"

I laughed. "I have a grand total of three, Em. And Rose has to fix the Arrow, so really at the moment I only have two."

"What's your other car?" Rose asked, curious.

I grinned; it was a natural reaction around all of these guys. "It's my newest love," I sighed. "A Lexus ISF. Nice and sleek, charcoal gray, great brakes… rides like a dream from what I can tell of the test drive. I only got it a week ago. Even the Volturi don't know about it. Which means Aaron can't break it." I added happily.

The all laughed, and I joined in. God, I was a car freak. Oh well. I liked to drive fast; sue me.

"Tonight, e can go pick the Arrow up; maybe the ISF. Hopefully, we won't get caught."

"Caught?"

I nodded, rolling my eyes. "They seem to think I require protection." I snorted. "As if."

Alice's brow pulled down in a confused frown. "Why would you need protection?"

I shrugged lightly, hoping to soon get off this topic. I was beginning to tread dangerous waters. "I don't know. It's not like I can't take care of myself."

We moved to sit on the couch in front of the television. Jasper glanced up from the screen and smiled in welcome. You'd think that since he barely ever spoke, it'd be uncomfortable, yet the opposite seemed to happen. I felt easy and relaxed with him; and I didn't think it had much to do with his talent. He was simply one of those people everyone liked.

"What're we watching?" I asked no one in particular.

"NCIS. It's like CSI, only with the government and NAVY and stuff. And it's funnier." Alice explained. "I like the lab girl; she cracks me up!" She laughed at some remembered comic instance.

I nodded, intrigued, and stared at the screen with everyone else. Still, a question kept coming to mind and when the next commercial came on, I finally gathered the courage to ask it.

"Where is everyone else?" I hoped I wasn't being too nosy.

"Esme dragged Carlisle out of town to somewhere overcast so she could buy some plants for her garden. I don't know where Edward is; he left really early this morning."

"Oh," I said, nodding. The show came back on, and everyone was once again absorbed. I decided it was a good show, and made a mental note to find out what times it showed so I could watch more of it. Alice was right… the girl that did the lab work was hilarious, though I kept forgetting her name.

"The church guy did it," I said with calm assurance. Everyone looked at me.

"Nuh-uh!" Emmett disagreed. "He only talked to her!"

I shrugged, but didn't argue back. I knew what I thought, now to see if I was right or losing my touch. About seven minutes later, the church guy shot himself just as the other two NCIS officers barged back inside.

"Yes!" I yelled, "I _told_ you!" I felt oddly smug and lightly happy. Proud of my sleuthing skills, I did a little dance of victory in my seat.

Just as the door opened.

Edward paused and slowly raised a brow, most likely questioning my sanity. It wasn't like he could read my mind to see why I was acting like a lunatic.

I pointed at the TV. "I was right."

He nodded once slowly, then came to sit with us.

Emmett was pouting, looking from me to the TV screen and back. "How did you know that?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Have you already seen it?"

"No, this is the first time I've watched this show. And it was obvious." I stated, watching the show.

"How the hell was it obvious?" Emmett asked, incredulous.

"The purple fibers. That he was someone she trusted and confided in the most."

"You pay great attention to detail," Jasper noted.

"Yeah, it's like she can get in the bad guy's head and understand him!" Emmett said, amazed.

I shrugged as the next commercial came on. "Must be something I picked up in the last few years." I abruptly stood up. " I need to go for a drive."

I was half-way across the yard when a cool hand gripped my elbow.

"Bella."

For some annoying reason I forced myself to ignore, my stomach flipped at his voice.

"Alice told me to come with you… if that's alright?" he added, uncertain.

After a moment, I shrugged. "I was going to go get my car."

"Do you need any help?" His ocher eyes searched my face as if the answers could be found there.

"No," I said, but my lips continued to form words without my telling them to. "But it might be helpful. Would you mind?"

He smiled politely and shook his head, releasing his hold on my elbow. I led the rest of the way to my car, unlocked it, and stepped inside. From the corner of my eye, I watched Edward look around curiously. As the engine purred to life, I turned on the CD player.

Edward raised a brow. "The Cab, right?"

I grinned and nodded. "Yeah. They're good; Alex has a nice voice, compared to some singers I've heard." I reached over and switched it to the next song, then turned it up slightly.

The green scenery flashed by outside as I drove with Edward to Port Angeles. Softly, I hummed along to the lyrics, trying not to think too much about the Greek-god worthy man next to me. It would only lead to things I didn't want to focus on. Not now, at least. Maybe when I was back half-way across the world, and nothing could be done about said thoughts. The song ended and the music began to the next one. When the words started, I sang along under my breath, unable to help myself. After the first few verses, I noticed him staring at me.

"What?" I asked, embarrassed about my singing. If I was still human, my blush would have been triggered. I remembered how easily I blushed when human.

"Nothing," he murmured, shaking his head and turning his gaze out his window. The rest of the ride was silent except for The Cab's music.

I parked the car two blocks from the hotel, which unfortunately happened to be where I'd left my Arrow. Bad foresight on my part.

"We'll have to wait until the sun's down, before we get out and retrieve my Arrow." I huffed to myself and slouched down in my seat.

Edward was looking at me curiously. Again. After a few minutes, I straightened uncomfortably.

"Bella, why did you join the Volturi?"

The slightly frustrated question was so unexpected, all I could manage was to go, "Huh?" (un)intelligently.

"From what I've seen of you, you aren't the type to find their company enjoyable. So why are you with them?"

I blinked, still off-balance by the unexpectedness of this conversation. Well, I had expected it, just not now. "Where else am I supposed to be?"

He opened his mouth and then shut it, a small frown pulling down his alabaster brow.

A small, rueful smile tugged at a corner of my lips. "They were the only ones I knew after I was changed. And it wasn't like -" I stopped, unsure if I was ready to discuss this with him, or any of the Cullens, just yet. It would inevitable lead to the topic of my change, and - though vague and three whole years ago - it wasn't something I could discuss easily.

Thankfully, he didn't push me to finish my sentence. Instead, he said, "Now?"

I sighed and leaned forward to bang my head gently on my steering wheel. The question led to a somewhat depressing answer I didn't want to give voice to. So instead I asked a question back. "Have you _met_ Aro? Or Marcus or Caius?"

At his small shake of head, I gave a curt, humorless laugh. "Then count yourself among the lucky."

"So, what? Are you-" he started to say. I desperately cut him off, wanting off this discussion topic _now_.

"How long have you been with Carlisle?"

His face closed off slightly as he leaned back. "I've been with Carlisle since he changed me."

I nodded. I had already known that; Carlisle himself had told me. So why did I ask Edward? Simple… because I wanted _him _to tell me.

"And you've been with the Volturi since you were changed." he said matter-of-factly.

I hedged around my answer. "Pretty much." I was being honest without mentioning those first few weeks into my change into a vampire. I glanced back out the window at the setting sun.

"Twilight; the end of another day, no matter how great," he murmured. I couldn't tell if it was to himself, or for me to hear too.

"Yeah," I sighed, feeling the depression of his statement. But I couldn't help adding, "And the beginning of a new night."

I opened my door and Edward quickly followed suit, stepping out into the cool evening air. I locked the Maserati and pocketed the keys. We walked cautiously the two blocks to the hotel; at the corner, I peered around to check for any familiar faces. I grinned; no Volturi.

Skipping in a way that was reminiscent of Alice in the mall, I made my way to my poor broken Arrow and skidded to a stop in front of it. Affectionately, I patted the hood, then dug out the keys and handed them to Edward.

"Have fun," I grinned. "My baby goes _fast_."

He smirked. "I think I can handle it."

I laughed. "If I didn't know for a fact that the Arrow was faster, I'd race you home. Only, I know it is faster, so I think I won't. We'll just have to take care of the racing on Sunday." I turned around, but he grabbed my arm and yanked me back. I nearly crashed into his chest, only just managing to avoid it.

"Is that a challenge, Bella Swan?"

I slowly grinned mischievously. "_May_be." I said. "Why? You up for it you think?"

He laughed. "Oh, most definitely."

"Good." I grinned even larger. "I'll have fun kicking both your brother's and your's asses."

He laughed loudly. "Cocky, are we?"

I shook my head. "No," I said simply. "Just confident in my abilities. It's a cold hard fact that I'm the best racer around."

"Bells?" The voice came from the hotel.

I whipped around, swearing under my breath. Cate was heading towards me from the lobby.

"Bells, get back over here! Aro said-"

I took off at a dead - and inhumanly fast - sprint towards the Maserati, unlocking it from the distance, sliding easily into the seat, glad when it roared to life in an instant. I could see Cate fast approaching. Edward blazed by, fishtailing around in the middle of the street, in my Arrow, headed for Forks.

I was suddenly glad Cate, Aaron, and Heidi didn't know I never told anyone the location of their house. That had been in my own personal store of information. I tore after Edward, leaving behind the Volturi guards, none of whom had a vehicle, one of whom didn't drive. I laughed, exhilarated, as I hit 175 down the freeway.

As we pulled up in front of the white Victorian house, I fishtailed around into a perfect stop. God, I loved my cars.

Edward got out and opened my door for me before I could get it myself. The action took me by surprise; I was even more surprised when he took my hand and pulled me gently out.

"That was great!" he laughed. "You should have seen Cate's face. She looked like someone kicked her in the stomach!"

I snickered. "We're just lucky she didn't think of controlling the cars and turning us around. We'd have been sunk then."

Alice and Rose came out of the house. Alice stepped up to Edward, whispering something lightning fast and near silently in his ear. Rose came to inspect my Arrow.

"You weren't kidding about the condition it's in. What did he do - throw a bomb at it?"

I rolled my eyes, still a little breathless with the excitement of our race from port Angeles.

"Something like that. I think Aaron might _be_ a walking bomb of destruction."

Rose laughed, glanced over the car once more, then shook her head at me. "I can fix it up, good as new. The windows might take a few days, but that's it. When can I drive it?"

I laughed. "We'll see. First you have to fix it, then I have to get the urge to drive it half-way across the world out of my system."

Rose laughed, but it was cut off by an angry snarl from Edward. We turned to look at him and Alice in surprise. He glared at the little pixie, then stormed into the house.

"You sure know how to kill his good mood, Alice," I said, somewhat worried, watching him go. "What'd you say?"

Her voice was a little too light and airy when she said, "Nothing important right now. Come on, let's go watch the movie. Carlisle wanted to talk to you, Bells, when you got back, too. And Esme wants to make sure you're comfortable and have everything you'll need."

I shook my head, a little amazed and overwhelmed, a lot embarrassed. "Oh. Okay. I'm sure I have everything I need."

"And what you don't, Alice and I can take you shopping for!" Rose added cheerily.

I glanced at them out of the corner of my eyes, somewhat afraid. I had a feeling shopping with these two could be like World War three. They should probably clear the malls when they came by.

"Sure, whatever you say." I quickly answered, then went inside.


	10. Ch 10 EdwardFiller

-1**Hey everyone! I know I said I'd update Monday or Tuesday, and today -obviously - isn't either of those. But school decided to ambush me, and I did warn you all that the updates might get sporadic. So sorry. This is rather short compared to some of (Okay, most of) my chapters, but my mom's kicking me off. She has online class homework, and been at work all day. Next week is testing week, so there'll be less homework, and more of a chance to update. I hope. I don't think this is great, but I hope it is acceptable. Oh, and thanks PocketofChange for Chuck Norris roundhouse kicking my writer's block!**

EPOV

It was one of those few sunny days in Forks. I'd left early this morning, hoping to slip out unnoticed, but of course that didn't work with a psychic in the house. Alice had been waiting for me next to the Volvo, leaning against the driver's door and painting her nails. As I'd approached, cautiously, she'd glanced up and grinned.

"Hey, Edward."

"Alice." I'd acknowledged, then sighed. "What do you want?" I was resigned to the fact that she obviously wanted something.

She had laughed. "Just be home by one, Edward. Or else I'll take you shopping for the big sale tomorrow." She examined her finished nails

I winced. "Sure, Alice. May I know why?"

"No." she'd said, and started singing Like a Boy in Dutch in her head, shrugging off the car and skipping off to the house.

So know I was heading back from the meadow I'd been in, where I went whenever it was sunny. It was my place to think, to be alone and get some peace and quiet. I pulled up in front of the house, somewhat surprised to see Bella's Maserati. She must have come over early. As I stepped out, I listened to the thoughts in the house to see who was there; Esme and Carlisle weren't home, and I didn't hear any of the Volturi's thoughts. Thankfully. As I ran lightly up the steps, I could hear someone, Bella, I thought, inside, yelling triumphantly.

I opened the door to see Bella squirming on the couch between Alice and Emmett, looking smug and happy. When she saw me, she stopped, her face turning innocent.

"I was right." she stated, pointing at the TV.

I nodded slowly, fighting a grin, and sat down on the arm of the couch. _She's so cute…_ I blinked and frowned slightly at that thought.

_There's no way… she had to have cheated, there's just no way… no one can actually guess that…._

Emmett was pouting, looking between Bella and the TV. "How did you do that?" He looked at her suspiciously. "Have you already seen it?"

"No, this is the first time I've watched this show. And it was obvious." Bella answered, watching the show.

"How the hell was it obvious?" Emmett was incredulous, and insulted. _I would have noticed it if it were obvious…_

Bella explained about the purple fibers and her logic, which was pretty good.

Jasper echoed my thoughts by saying, "You pay great attention to detail."

"Yeah, it's like she can get in the bad guy's head and understand him!" Emmett blurted without thinking.

I rolled my eyes. He could be just like a little kid.

She shrugged as a commercial came on. "Must have been something I picked up in the last few years." Her tone hinted that it was a sore subject and she stood up suddenly. "I need to go for a drive." She left the house without another word.

"Edward, go with her." Alice said.

"Why? She wants to be alone, I think." I said quietly.

Alice huffed angrily. "Just do it. It'll be better if you go with her. Trust me."

I sighed in annoyance, but did as she said. You learned to do as Alice said after a while. So I ran out of the house; Bella was halfway across the lawn when I reached her, grabbing her arm. "Bella."

She stopped, but didn't turn or say anything.

"Alice told me to come with you… if that's alright?" I asked, uncertain. I didn't want to intrude, and if she wanted me to leave, I would.

After a moment's hesitation, she shrugged as she turned around. "I was going to get my car."

"Do you need any help?" I searched her face for answers.

"No." she started, but then added, "But it might be helpful. Would you mind?" She bit her lip, unconsciously, as she asked.

I smiled and shook my head, letting go of her elbow, and following her to her car. I looked around in interest as we sat down inside. As the engine came to life, she reached over and turned on the CD player.

"The Cab?" I asked, recognizing the song.

She grinned and nodded. "Yeah. They're good; Alex has a great voice compared to some singers I've heard." She switched it to the next song and hummed along. I watched the scenery flash by, glancing at the curious girl next to me every once in a while. She wasn't like anyone else I'd met. For one thing, I couldn't hear her thoughts, but that was just one among many. She was quirky, occasionally showing an intriguing sense of humor. But then she'd slip into these brooding sessions, as if she'd been drawn into dark thoughts. And I could tell, from the other day in biology, that she didn't like being with the Volturi. She had been upset by her reaction to a boy's blush, when her eyes were nearly black with hunger. I'd have to ask Carlisle when he planned on taking Bella on a hunting trip with us. If we waited much longer, she would probably have to go hunting by herself. And I doubted she wanted to do that.

The next song came on, and she began to sing along softly. I couldn't keep from looking at her. Her brown hair hung over her shoulders, her pale skin, unusually pale even for us, and her soft lips.

"What?" she said uncomfortably, interrupting my staring.

"Nothing," I muttered, shaking my head. I turned my gaze back out the window, scowling slightly. The emotions coming up in me were completely irrational. I'd known her for barely any time at all, and already I was beyond fascinated with her. I was captivated.

She didn't sing along to the music anymore.

We parked on the side of the road in Port Angeles, ans she sighed.

"We'll have to wait until the sun's down, before we get out and retrieve my Arrow." she said as if to herself. Then she huffed and slouched down in her seat. I stared at her again, curious why she was upset. It was just another thing that made her intriguing; she never did what I expected. A few minutes later, she straightened.

"Bella, why did you join the Volturi?" I asked in frustration. It just didn't add up that she was there of her own free will.

"Huh?" she asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"From what I've seen of you, you aren't the type to find their company enjoyable. So why are you with them?" I wondered if she'd even answer my question; she was even less forth-coming with her past than Rosalie.

She blinked, then asked, a small frown between her brows, "Where else am I supposed to be?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but then stopped as I realized what I was going to say. That she could be with us, my family. It was stupid to want her to stay so much, I thought, frowning at myself. No way was I going to tell her that, not yet at least.

She smiled slightly, with a tinge of ruefulness. "They were the only ones I knew after I was changed. And it wasn't like -" she stopped suddenly, her face clouding over as she thought of something. I could tell she didn't want to elaborate or continue, so I didn't make her.

"Now?" I asked.

She leaned forward and banged her head against the steering wheel a few times before turning it so that she could see me. "Have you _met_ Aro? Or Marcus or Caius?"

I shook my head and she laughed shortly and humorlessly. "Then count yourself among the lucky."

"So, what? Are you-" I started to ask, but she desperately cut me off.

"How long have you been with Carlisle?"

I leaned back. I was pretty sure he had already told her that he had made me, but maybe she was she was asking me for clarification, or just wanted to hear it from me. "I've been with him since he changed me." She nodded.

"And you've been with the Volturi since you were changed."

"Pretty much," she murmured, glancing out at the sunset.

"Twilight; the end of another day, no matter how great," I murmured, half to myself.

"Yeah," she sighed, but then added, "And the beginning of a new night." I glanced at her, but she was stepping out of her car. I followed quickly. We walked cautiously two blocks, then she skipped around a corner, grinning happily. I couldn't stop the grin that slid over my face watching her. She patter the hood of her broken car, then dug out some keys and handed them to me.

"Have fun, my baby goes _fast._" Her grin stayed firmly in place. She was obviously happy to be getting her car fixed, but I thought it might also have something to do with the fact that she was doing it behind the Volturi's backs. From what I'd heard of their thoughts, she was rebellious in every way she could be, and still one of their best. But I also kept getting thoughts of worry, worry about her safety.

I smirked at her. "I think I can handle it," I told her. I was used to driving fast; it was one of the things I loved most about cars. She laughed at me.

"If I didn't know for a fact that the Arrow was faster, I'd race you home. Only, I know it is faster, so I think I won't. We'll just have to take care of the racing on Sunday." She turned to leave. I grabbed her arm, yanking her back. She was caught off guard and nearly crashed into me, but managed to stop herself at the last minute. She was a mere inch from me, and I was highly aware of the lack of space between us. I felt the insane urge to close that distance, but shrugged it off.

"Is that a challenge, Bella Swan?" I teased her.

She grinned, slowly and mischievously. "_May_be." She glanced up coyly. "Why? You think you're up for it?"

I laughed, happy to have her happy. ""Oh, most definitely."

"Good." She grinned even more. "I'll have fun kicking both your brother's and your's asses."

I laughed loudly, amused by her statement. "Cocky, are we?"

She shook my head. "No," she said simply. "Just confident in my abilities. It's a cold hard fact that I'm the best racer around." Her features said that she wasn't bragging, but was teasing me a bit.

I was about to answer her when someone called her name from behind us.

Bella whipped around, swearing under her breath. One of the vampires from school, Cate, I thought, came out from the hotel. "Bella, get back over here! Aro said-"

She took off at an inhuman speed, though no one was around to see her. I quickly jumped into her Arrow, and drove towards where she had her other car parked.

I fishtailed around the corner as Bella pulled from the curb; Cate was at the sidewalk, thinking a whole bunch of rude things about us. I laughed loudly, though no one was around to hear it. She was right behind me as we hit the freeway. When we reached my house, she fishtailed into a perfect stop; I could see her grinning from her seat. Even I had to admit that her cars were amazing. I got out and moved to open her door for her. I could see her surprise, which increased as I grabbed her hand and pulled her out.

"That was great!" I laughed, still exhilarated from the race out of the small tourist town. "You should have seen Cate's face. She looked like someone kicked her in the stomach!"

Bella snickered. "We're just lucky she didn't think of controlling the cars and turning us around. We'd have been sunk then." We laughed some more.

Alice and Rose came out of the house. Rose came to inspect her Arrow, while Alice stepped over to me, leaning up to whisper in my ear, fast and nearly silent.

"Edward, I had a vision while you two where away. It's about Bella again. It was almost like last time, where a some people were after her, only this time was different. I think they know where she is know. I still couldn't get any faces… but…. Edward, I think Bella's in danger. She has to leave Forks. I think someone she knows is helping them."

I snarled angrily. Last time Alice had a vision of Bella, it had been of someone in a dark room on the phone, with about three others gathered around. They'd been talking about how they tried to find her, and how they'd been unable to, and about the death of someone named Laurent. They'd been discussing how to find her again, but from what we'd been able to tell, hadn't reached any decision. Now, apparently, they knew where she was. Alice was right, it seemed someone was betraying Bella. I glared at Alice, though I knew it wasn't her fault, and stormed inside. I could feel the three girls' gazes on my back the whole way.

Who would betray Bella? She was sweet, innocent, yet also strong. Perhaps it was someone from when she was in the Volturi… I stopped halfway up the stairs. I was already thinking about Bella as if she were no longer part of them, while in reality, she was. I scowled and continued up the stairs, into my room, and slammed the door behind me. I could hear my family's concerned thoughts, but I just turned on my music.

I laid back on my couch, staring up at the ceiling, brooding over this situation. I would do anything to keep Bella safe, I knew that as much as I knew I was not human. Forget the illogic of it, I would keep her safe. Even if it meant I had to steal her away, against her will, I would. As long as she was safe, I could deal with any anger she felt. I'd rather her hate me and be safe, then have any possibility of her being hurt.

There was a soft knock on my door. "Edward? Can I come in?" Her voice was soft with uncertainty.

I rolled to my feet, and walked over to open the door. She stood there, looking down at her feet, a few locks of her mahogany hair falling into her face. She glanced up through her lashes.

Without saying anything, I held the door open, trying to contain my anger. She swallowed, and stepped into my room, head still down, but glancing discreetly around. Her eyes lingered on my wall of CD's.

I picked up the remote for my stereo, turned the music down so that it was background noise, then faced her.

"So, what is it you want?" I asked her.

**There it is. A whole (somewhat short) chapter in Edward's POV. Last chapter makes a little more sense with his input. XD please review, I'd love it greatly. Anyways, thanks for reading. Laughs and Hugs!! Biblio**


	11. Ch 11 Before Hunting

-1**So. I'm back… sorry it took so long! I swear, I really was busy, and I got sick, and kicked off the computer, and then it broke for a few days… and then I got writer's block! So sorry if this sucks… but I figured you'd all want SOMETHING after over two weeks. Right? I finished the second Night Huntress novel, I actually memorized the page Bones shows up (77) and chapter 32 was… interesting? Haha… try more like kinky. Bones's history was very evident. ;) And The Host comes out in two days! And they're cancelling Moonlight! NO!! And…**_**ponders**_**… I think that's it. Huh. Well, sorry - again - for taking so long, but please, review! I loves you all!**

The uncertainty hit as soon as I knocked on the door.

Why was I here, in front of his door? What irrational logic had convinced me to come up and talk to him? Maybe I hadn't even been thinking. Just because the walls had been down between us earlier, didn't give me any right or reason -

He opened the door. My eyes flashed up, then back down to my feet. Obviously, he was still pissed off, and I wondered again what Alice had whispered. I stepped inside as he held the door open, glancing around at his room from the corners of my eyes. Golden toned walls and carpet, one wall as a huge window, a black couch, and a _whole wall_ dedicated to music. I'd have to check that out later.

The music he had been playing turned down and he turned to stare at me.

"So, what is it you want?"

"Aro to choke to death painfully on a fish bone," I muttered.

"What?"

I cleared my throat. "Nothing. I just…" I frowned at myself and my sudden inability to speak. "What's Alice say to you?" Finally, I brought my gaze up from the floor to meet his dark onyx eyes.

"Nothing of importance," he said smoothly, some of the tightness in his face disappearing. Alice had said the same thing; I hadn't believed her, either.

I snorted. "You're a terrible liar. If it's nothing, please, explain you behavior?" I blinked up with innocent curiosity at him.

A corner of his mouth quirked up, and the remaints of his anger was replaced by amusement.

"Let me rephrase - it is nothing of importance today. Now, Carlisle is down in his study waiting for you." He led me downstairs to Carlisle's office, seemingly over whatever had upset him. I bit the inside of my cheek; since he wouldn't tell me, it was back to Alice. For a moment, I mused over what I could offer up in return for the information, and could only come up with one thing. Shopping. I grimaced at the idea, but knew I'd have to do it. Edward frowned at me in confusion; I cleared my expression and smiled slightly at him. No way was I going to let him in on what I was planning when he might try to distract me. Besides, Alice was or would be seeing my decision to bribe her any time now.

Carlisle glanced up as we entered and smiled. "Bella. Nice to see you again."

I returned his warm smile. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I-"

A very loud, exuberant, high-pitched and delighted squeal from downstairs interrupted us. We all glanced towards the door momentarily, but from Edward's frown I could tell he didn't know what she'd seen. I smiled slightly, taking it that Alice had seen my offer and was going to agree.

"As I was saying, the other day, I offered to bring you along when we went out for our next hunt. Do you still wish to join us?"

I straightened with interest. "Yes, of course. When?"

He smiled and chuckled a little at the undertone of eagerness in my voice. "Tonight, a few hours from now. All of us are going. Of course, it will never be as satisfying as the traditional diet, but it can help increase your resistance."

I looked down at my hands for a moment, thinking how to phrase what I wanted to say. "Well… I already have some measure of self-control. All the Volturi learn it in some degree to allow us to do our jobs without drawing undue attention." I said slowly. "It doesn't really last long, but…" I looked back up at him. "I really want to try this, Carlisle. It'd mean so much to me if I could resist killing people and instead be a vegetarian. I would owe you so much… I already do. Just by showing me this lifestyle, this alternative… you've helped me so, _so _much. More than I can say."

Carlisle looked at me with gentle compassion. "Bella, it is nothing. I'm glad you're willing to try. You owe us none of us anything whatsoever."

We talked for a while about some things, including Sunday's race. He and Esme hadn't decided completely if they were going to participate, but he assured me they would both be there to watch.

The moment Edward and I stepped out of the door, Alice ambushed me, like I had figured she would. "Bella, can I see you for a minute?"

I nodded and allowed her to drag me to her room, where she shut the door and blocked it with her little arms spread across. As if that would really stop me if I wanted through.

"I believe you had an offer for me, dear Miss. Swan?"

I smirked. "I'll let you take me shopping _if_ you tell me what you told Edward." I crossed my arms and watched her think this through.

Finally she came to a decision and nodded firmly. "Alright. Let me take you to the mall before we go hunting, and then I'll tell you."

I laughed loudly at that. "No go. You tell me _now_ and I let you take me."

She glared. "How do I know you won't take one of those mondo fast cars of your's and disappear after I tell you?"

I slowly raised a brow. "Wouldn't you see that?"

She narrowed her eyes again. "Not if you were blocking me." she muttered darkly.

I uncrossed my arms, laughing. "You're not bad, Alice. Not bad at all. Alright, how about this? You and I go to the mall. I walk inside. If, and _only if_, you tell me what you told Edward, I'll let you drag me to any store you want. If you _don't…_ I _will_ get away from you. Do not doubt that."

She eyed me. Then held out her tiny hand. "Deal."

"Good." I smiled, then added, "And don't let Edward know."

She snorted. "Oh, yeah, I'm going to let him know I told you something he wanted to keep from you. I might be willing to take risks some times, but I'm not dumb, Bells."

I laughed, but then smirked and said. "Good to know. Now, if you'll excuse me…" I ducked past her, bending double to do so, out the door, down the stairs. Esme looked up as I wandered into the living room, and smiled.

"Hello, Bella, dear. Rose and the boys are outside, wrestling, I believe, if you want to join them."

I smiled at her. "Thank you. I think I will." I slipped out the door into the back, wandering along the porch and then down the stairs, heading towards the garage. When I walked in, Rose glanced up from the inside of my car, and smiled.

"Hey, Bells. I think I'm going to have to order a new stereo, too. I didn't realize he'd busted it this bad."

I rolled my eyes. "Neither did I, or I'd have mentioned it."

She laughed, and closed the car door gently. She paused, hands on hips, and shook her head. "No offense, but your car's so busted, I barely know where to start!"

I shrugged. "None taken. Good luck." I glanced around. "Um, where are the guys?"

She shrugged, already absorbed back into the work ahead of her, so I wandered back outside. Around to the front of the house, Emmett and Jasper were circling each other, grinning.

"Bring it, Jazzy. I can take you any time, any place." Emmett called.

Jasper snorted. "So you always say, Em, yet you rarely produce that result."

Emmett made a face at him. "I'm going to win the bet about Bella!"

I froze at that and tilted my head to the side. They had a bet about me?

Jasper rolled his eyes. "No, you won't. She's been on a traditional diet for years now. It'll be harder for her to resist slipping up than if she started when she was turned."

Emmett rolled his eyes, and then suddenly leaped across the space between them to crash into Jasper, probably hoping to catch him by surprise. It didn't work, and Jasper and him ended up rolling around in the grass. I was frozen. They were betting how often I'd… slip up? How many people I'd kill after I started on this life of theirs? How… encouraging.

"They bet about everything. You shouldn't take it seriously, or personally. I think they have a gambling problem."

I turned in surprise, not having noticed Edward come up behind me. I shrugged, trying to brush it off as if it didn't bother me, but I don't think I fooled him.

He glanced at me, and smiled. "Alice is saying she got you to go shopping with her?"

I nodded, turning to look back out at the two wrestling brothers.

"I convinced her to wait until _after_ we hunt, since then you'll be able to resist better, not being so hungry and all."

I nodded. The silence stretched for a few minutes, then I found myself blurting quietly, "Did you ever mess up?"

He glanced sideways at me, his expression unreadable. Vaguely, I found myself thinking Marcus would be proud of such a poker face. Slowly, Edward folded himself down on the ground. I sat beside him, not expecting an answer and knowing I had no right to one.

"At one point, I left Carlisle and Esme." he murmured. I glanced at him, surprised. He wasn't looking at me, just staring in the distance, as he continued. "I wasn't entirely sold on this life of abstinence and resented him for curbing my appetite. So I went off on my own for a time. From the time of my new birth, I had the advantage of knowing what everyone around me was thinking, both human and nonhuman alike. That's why it took me ten years to defy Carlisle - I could read his perfect sincerity, understand exactly why he lived the way he did.

"It took my only a few years to return and recommit, though. I thought I would be exempt from the… depression… that accompanies a conscience. Because I knew the thoughts of my prey, I would pass over the innocent and pursue only the evil. If I followed a murderer down a dark alley where he stalked a young girl - if I saved her, then surely I wasn't so terrible."

I stared at him, amazed by this story. Edward - perfect, gorgeous Edward - knew what it was like to try to find the evil instead of the innocent, yet still not be free of guilt. It made me feel less a monster, knowing that the people in this family weren't perfect, either. I could see it amazingly clearly, from my imagination and own experiences combined. The alley at night, the frightened girl, the dark man behind her. And Edward, Edward as he hunted, terrible and glorious as a young god, unstoppable. And the torn expression on the girl's face… fear of this new terror and, yet, also grateful for being saved.

"But as time went on, I began to see the monster in my eyes. I couldn't escape the debt of so much human life taken, no matter how justified. And I went back to Carlisle and Esme. They welcomed me back like the prodigal. It was more than I deserved." he ended so softly that I nearly missed it. But then he glanced at me, a small, somewhat sad smile on his perfect face. "Almost every one of us has slipped up at some point, so don't let those two get to you. Or any one else. They're harmless, I swear." He winked at me, and I finally smiled, laughing slightly.

I shook my head. "I know they don't mean any harm. Honestly, I can't see Emmett just hurting anyone like that. If he wanted to cause harm, it'd be pretty intentional. Not to mention painful."

Edward laughed. "Got it in one. He's mainly harmless, until the family is threatened."

I leaned back, resting on my elbows as Jasper threw Emmett a few feet across the yard, or - perhaps more appropriately - field. Edward shook his head, laughing quietly.

I looked over at him, tilting my head and raising a brow in question.

He shook his head, and said, "Emmett was thinking about how he was going to get Jasper back for beating him at wrestling. It involves, so far, a bucket of soapy water and 'kidnapping' Alice." He shook his head again, chuckling. I smiled.

"How creative. But I could do better." When he glanced my way with a questioning glance, I just grinned and shrugged. "I've lived with Aaron, Felix, Demetri, and Alec for the past three years. And trust me - out of everyone there, they are the most fun. Jane's always trying to torture people and is pissed at me cause she can't, and Heidi is gone a lot, and Cate just keeps to herself. And no way am I going to hang around with the terribly boring trio."

He laughed. "I suppose there's no need to ask who they are?"

I snorted. "Doesn't take a genius to guess."

Edward glanced towards the house, then stood. He offered a hand to me and helped me up; I tried to ignore the tingling sensation that touching his hand brought to life, then fought the urge to shake my hand once he released it to get rid of it.

"Carlisle says that we're ready to go." He walked a few feet to the house, then paused and glanced back at me. "Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose are taking Em's jeep. Carlisle and Esme are going in the Mercedes… do you want to join me in the Volvo?"

I smiled, pleased by the thought of time alone with Edward. Which I probably shouldn't be, but I could no longer find any energy to care. I walked over to him, then followed him to his car. The rest of the family were already getting in and driving off. A few minutes later, we were all on the road, driving to some park across state. Edward turned on the CD player, and after a moment, I was able to recognize the elusively familiar notes.

"Claire de Lune?" I asked, surprised.

"You know Debussy?" He sounded as surprised as I felt.

I shrugged. "Not well, only my favorites… this was one my mom used to play around the house. It's one of the few things I can remember from my human life." I murmured.

He watched me for a moment more, then looked back at the road. The rest of the car ride passed in a comfortable silence, with very little conversation between us.

We parked and stepped out, joining the rest of the family. Emmett was rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"Yes! Grizzlies, here I come!"

I blinked a couple of times, frowning, while Edward chuckled softly at my expression. "Emmett loves grizzly bears. Especially in the spring; more irritable." he explained.

I raised my brows and nodded my head once slowly. "Oh, yeah. Nothing like an irritable grizzly bear."

He laughed, along with Alice and Emmett, whom had wandered over to join us.

"Emmett has a fascination with bears." she said. "And he loves taking huge risks and danger. The two go hand in hand."

Emmett glared playfully at her. "Yeah, yeah. Says the shop addict who has no recollection of her past."

She laughed. "Still not as bad as you!"

Rose came over, rolling her eyes. "The two goofs of the family. Don't you love them?" She leaned against Emmett's side, and he slung an arm over her shoulder, hugging her close.

"It's why you love me!"

Carlisle called out, telling us to all meet back here in an hour and a half. The couples split off together, but Edward paused and looked back at me.

"Come on. I'll show you the ropes." He smiled his crooked smile at me, making my insides turn into a warm mush. I met up with him, then followed him at a run into the thick woods.

An hour and a half with Edward? I could totally deal with that.


	12. Ch 12 Peace

**Uh… heh. So, **_**so **_**sorry that it took me over three weeks to update. But between school, life, and Writer's Block, I just couldn't get much out. So, if this sucks, blame school for pounding out my creativity. And for stressing me. (but thankfully… it's over!!) Oh, and it's _really_ short, too. But I figured you'd want SOMETHING.  
**

**Anyhoodles, I'd appreciate if more of you readers would review. I see how many of you read, remember, and then when I compare how many of you actually take half a second to say even just "good" or "update soon" or (if you so wished) "this sucks" (there haven't been any yet), it's kinda sad. I mean, how hard is it to type two words? Or even one? Come on, people. Part of the point of fan fiction is to get feedback. I'd like a little more, if ya don't mind. XD**

**Anyways, this one goes out to Mai, who is CONSTANTLY BUGGING ME at school about "Have you updated yet?" She even reads my very rough draft copies for the chapters that I sometimes have. So, Mai, this one is for you. Loves and Hugs!! **

We were the last ones to get back from hunting. As I stepped out from between the trees, Emmett took one look at my twig-and-leaf-filled hair and burst out laughing. I glared at him for a long moment, then stalked over to where Edward's Volvo was parked. He appeared from the foliage as I passed the bright red jeep.

I slowed as a evil little plot formed in my head. With a slow and malicious grin, I glanced over my shoulder at where most of the Cullens were gathered, listening as Edward explained what had happened. None of them were looking my way. Causally, I put my nail against the paint… then continued walking. Only a lot faster than before.

They all turned at the annoying - if faint - scratching noise; there was silence for a breath, then -

"WHAT?!" Emmett yelled.

I yanked open the door to Edward's Volvo, slid inside, and slammed it shut, locking all the doors. I was taking a risk, but I didn't think Emmett would ruin _Edward's _car. He would have to fix more than a little paint scratch if he did.

"That was _not_ funny Bel- Alice! Stop laughing! Edward - Rose - Jaz - Esme! You too?! Come on! She just ruined my _jeep!_"

I tried to muffle my snickers by putting my hand over my mouth but failed miserably. It was all just too comical. Edward came over and clapped a hand on Em's back, shaking his head an still laughing.

"Come on Em. Even you have to admit it was great. If it weren't for the fact that she did it to your jeep, you'd be congratulating her on a job well done." Still chuckling, Edward then moved into the driver's seat.

I snuck a glance at Edward as we pulled onto the road, easily reaching speeds miles over the speed limit. He glanced at me and smirked as he pulled a twig from my hair.

I huffed at his slight mocking; it wasn't _my _fault that the stupid bear had snuck up behind me, knocking me into a bush. Edward should have warned me!

He laughed out loud - again - when he noticed my pout. "Oh, come on Bella. It _was_ pretty funny. Years from now we'll all be joking about your first veggie hunting trip."

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, wondering if he'd noticed what he was implying in what he said. Even if I wanted to - which I had a strong, uncomfortable feeling I might - stay with them, I couldn't. Aro, let alone Marcus and Caius, would most definitely not let their favorite Guard go free because she enjoyed the company of a family of vegetarians. They would laugh in my face before dragging me tooth and nail back to that icky castle in Volterra. One didn't simply leave the Volturi Guard.

He smiled at me again, the crooked one that I absolutely loved. "Alice is planning on taking you shopping when we get back… how about a small little detour?"

I grinned. "How about a big long detour?"

He laughed, and turned quickly onto a new road. I wasn't paying much attention to where we were going or how long it took us to get there. Actually, I was a little distracted with thoughts of the upcoming race. I'd decided that since I couldn't use my Arrow, it being broken and all, I would pick up the Lexus. I wasn't sure what cars the Cullens would be using, or even if they had some cars that I hadn't seen yet. It put me at a disadvantage, since they had seen my cars… except the Lexus. So it was probably my best bet to use it.

The engine turned off, and I glanced at Edward in the early morning light. He was opening his door and stepping out, so I did the same.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around in the early morning light.

He just grinned, and motioned with his head into the dense foliage, away from the trail.

"You better not get me lost," I muttered. "I'm not in the mood to have Alice murder me."

Edward laughed softly, smirking; grabbing my hand, he dragged me into the forest after him. We started running. As Edward pulled slightly ahead of me, I pushed myself faster, inching just in front of him. He put on a burst of speed, glancing sideways at me before he passed to a few feet in front of me. I smirked. No way was I going to let him get to where ever it was we were going before me.

Both of us kept pushing each other, until we were at full speed, matching each other step for step. I wasn't paying attention to our surroundings beyond not crashing into a tree. Wouldn't that be just like my days as a human? Crashing into a tree while racing the incredibly gorgeous Edward Cullen. I'd never be able to live it down.

We burst from the branches and leaves into a clearing, lit by the early sunlight. I stopped, skidding slightly, and looked around, my jaw loose. I took a few steps farther into it, aware that I was ogling. The place was almost as beautiful as Edward.

I turned back to stare at him. "What…?"

He smiled slightly. "I found it one day, while running." He folded himself down onto the ground. "I like to come here, to be alone and think."

I sank down next to him, wrapping my arms around my knees. "Thank you. For sharing it with me." I explained after a long silence.

He shot a quick glance and smile my way. The sun slowly rose in the sky, making our skin sparkle, before clouds began to roll in, obscuring the light. I watched, with Edward, as the time passed and the clouds conquered the sky.

It kinda reminded me of my life, how it had been so happy and light until that night three years ago. Then everything had darkened, until I'd changed into a person I wouldn't even recognize as myself. And I wasn't just talking about the whole vampire transformation thing. My priorities and morals had shifted; being in the Volturi, they kind of had to. I abruptly missed who I used to be, and wondered if she was lost forever. It was like wishing for the innocence of childhood.

My phone rang and I sighed, shifting to pull it out of my pocket. I already had an idea of who it was.

"Hello Alice," I said in resignation.

"Bella! How dare you disappear after our deal! Come on; it's cloudy now so we can go shopping! Please?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Sure thing, Alice. Just give me a few minutes to get to the house." I hung up before she could respond.

Edward stood up, and I followed suit. Without a word, he led me to the Volvo, and we got in to drive back, lost in our own thoughts.

Alice was waiting impatiently on the front porch when we pulled up. I hadn't even stepped fully out of the car before she was dragging me to the Mercedes that belonged to Carlisle. I was shoved unceremoniously inside, and then she was turning the key to start the engine.

I was in for a _long _day, and boy did I know it.

**So, even though it is short, please _please_ review. It encourages me to update faster!**


	13. Ch 13 Shopping and Phone Calls

**Huzzah! I have found a slight inspiration! As in, I sat down with Mai and talked about what she thinks should happen, and we talked about the race. I, while writing this, have only a vague idea who is going to win (it's down to two people), so it's going to be made up as I go along. (My best writing always comes out that way.)**

**Also. On the 16, I start PE through the summer school (my school doesn't offer the second year. XP Same for Health.), then in July, I have Health for about a week and a half. Starting June 30, I have Chem through the college until August 8, then High School starts again the very next day. I'm taking Chem now because I don't want to with the teacher my school offers, and can't bear the idea of another year with her. So for the next week, I'll try to write up a bunch of ideas or chapters, then post them when I can. Just for a heads up.**

**Here it is… chapter 13!**

"Alice!" I groaned. "Can we go back now? Please?!" I begged, desperate to get out of the mall and into open air. And freedom. This really hadn't been worth what I'd learned. According to Alice, she had a vision about a phone call that had made Edward angry, and she didn't know much more than that. She couldn't tell me who was talking, or in the vision, because she didn't know. It made very little sense, but before I could get out a new question to try to understand, she had squealed about a sale at Victoria's Secret and I had been dragged for hours of torture.

She sighed. "Well, I guess that we have enough." She looked at all our bags speculatively. "Are you sure we don't have to get-"

"Alice!" I snapped.

"Fine!" She rolled her eyes. "We can go now, I guess."

I perked up, and led the way out, speeding ahead of her. When we stepped out, I paused and spun in a circle.

"Freedom!" I declared joyously. Alice shot me a dry look. As we reached the Mercedes, I slowed. "Hey, Alice?"

"Hmm?" She glanced over her shoulder at me curiously.

"Would you mind dropping me off at an auto shop in Port Angeles on the way back? So I can pick up my Lexus?"

She grinned happily. "Sure! Not a problem. I'm really looking forward to the race." she added conversationally as we sat down and she started the engine.

I smiled and leaned back in the seat. "Me too. I haven't been allowed to race since about … nearly two years ago."

"Why?"

I snorted. "Cause Aaron, Felix, and I nearly killed each other and caused a mountain of destruction behind us." At her wide-eyed look, I elaborated. "See, I caused Felix to crash into a light post, which fell into a brick building. Aaron crashed into a random car… then he high-jacked another random one from the parking garage nearby. Felix caught up to me, and bumped me into a ditch; Aaron passed by me laughing. I then managed to convince this passerby to give me his car and call a tow-truck to pick up mine. Later, I had to let him have it. Anyways, I made Aaron crash into a hundred foot tree, which fell onto his car and nearly landed on him. Then Felix and I were drifting around a corner… he lost control of his vehicle, slammed into mine, then we both hit a… what do you call them? Kind of like the rocky sides of the foot hills? I can't recall the proper name. So, see," I laughed. "The cars caught fire. If either of us had been a split second slower, we'd have gone up in flames. Aro, Marcus, and Caius banned all three of us from ever racing again." I grinned slowly with complete evil. "What the boring trio doesn't know, can't hurt me!"

Alice burst out laughing. "Bella, I really think I love you."

I snickered. "Wish I could say the same about you Alice."

She faked a shocked expression. "Isabella Marie Swan! I'm hurt!" She placed a hand over her heart and shot me a perfectly mastered hurt, sad, lost puppy-dog look.

I rolled my eyes, and she grinned. A short while later, I hopped out of the car, thanked her, and watched as she drove off towards Forks. Then I skipped up to the auto shop and banged on the garage door. I knew someone was there, because I could hear them… oh, the benefits of vampirism.

"Yeah, whosit?" mumbled some grumpy old guy.

I raised a brow. "I'm Bella Swan. I left my car here for a check a week ago… it should be done now."

He gawked at me, having not stopped since he saw me. I cleared my throat pointedly and he fumbled for a while before nodding dumbly and disappearing inside. I rolled my eyes, grinning briefly, before composing my expression when he came back, handing me my keys.

"Here you go, Missy. Car's 'round back."

With a quick nod and thank you, I hurried as fast as I could and still appear human towards my Lexus ISF. Dramatically, I dropped my arms as far around it as I could, then patted the hood before getting inside.

I chuckled as the car purred to life. "Oh, yeah. I'm so winnin' that race."

Victoria's POV

I paced the room impatiently. I'd been waiting for my informant to call me with the new information for two days now. Our regular contact time was three in the morning every other day unless otherwise stated by one of us. And they hadn't changed anything yet.

Which meant either they were backing out on me, or something had happened to keep them from reaching me.

I whirled back around, angry. _How dare they back out?! If they have, I'll make sure they pay!_

Which reminded me of the reason I wanted Isabella Swan, Volturi Guard, dead.

Even though it'd been already quite some time since the incident, my fury hadn't lessened. If anything, it had simmered and grown.

--

_James and I walked through the dark New Orleans alleys, red-eyed and starving for human blood. My mate was an excellent tracker; he lived for the hunt, the chase, the kill. No one was better than my James._

_"Victoria," he murmured quickly and near-silently. "What shall we have tonight? Asian? Hispanic? Or just plain old white?"_

_We laughed at our little joke; humans had their different kinds of take-out. So did we._

_"Mmm… I thinking it's pot-luck tonight." I was too hungry to actually deal with the task of choosing and hunting for a specific type or flavor. All I wanted was to feed… and then maybe have some desert. _

_He grinned at me and we started to run, searching for a meal. We'd gone a few blocks and found a good ideal meal. Two people, a female and male, maybe a couple, were walking in a park. We began stalking them, the perfect predators. It was simple, easy, almost too much so, and we soon had them cornered. Their terror showed clearly on their faces, and I relished in it; I was powerful, unstoppable. _

_"I'm warning you now; stop."_

_The voice was clear, melodious, obvious one of us…. _

_James and I whirled around, snarling. A girl, with mahogany hair hanging down her back and ruby red eyes wearing a black cloak, stood there casually, calm. She didn't respond or react to our fighting stances, just watched us and the meals with an almost disinterested look. _

_"Get lost," James snarled. _

_Her lips twitched in response. "James, I believe it would be in your best interest to keep that mouth of yours from spewing anything else that might get you in worse trouble."_

_I glanced edgily at James, uneasy. How did she know his name…? I flicked my eyes all ways, trying to keep an eye open for an ambush._

_Her tinkling laugh sounded. "Calm down, Vitoria. I'm the only one here. The Volturi didn't think you a large enough threat to send any more than just little me." She smirked. "Now. Step away from the couple and we can deal with this somewhere private." With that said, she half-turned, her large red eyes still on us. When neither of us moved, she raised a brow. "Well?"_

_After a moment, she sighed, and faced back towards us. "Very well. I can do it your way."_

_I heard the meals try to make a run for it and spun around, hissing. Faster than even I'd known reasonable, I was tackled from behind by the Volturi's little show monkey. I twisted under her, but her lithe little hands somehow managed to wring their way around my neck. With a sickening twist, she broke it, immobilizing me momentarily. _

_From where I was stuck on the ground, I saw her and James collide. I listened as the humans made off, their hearts beating erratically. Slowly, my neck's vertebrae began to realign; painfully, painstakingly progressively. _

_James screamed, loudly and high pitched, before the sound was abruptly cut off. I still couldn't move when she set him on fire, the purple stinking smoke rising in the air. For a moment, she watched him burn, then turned to me._

_She crouched down, watching me. "You haven't caught the Volturi's attention yet, so I wasn't ordered to kill you. But be warned - if you do anything to turn their eyes to you in the future, I will come back and make sure you join him." Her head jerked back at the smoldering flames that was left of my love. _

_She rose and began to walk away. I cursed the fact that my neck was fixing itself too slowly for me to take her down. At the edge of my vision, she stopped. _

_"Don't come after me, Victoria. You will regret it if you do. It'll be the last thing you do." _

_And then she disappeared with a breath of air._

--

I whirled around, snarling, and broke a table in half. Just as I was turning to return the chair to timber, my cell phone buzzed. Whipping around, I grabbed it and flipped it open.

"What?!" I snapped.

"No need to bite my head off."

I growled low in my throat. "You were supposed to call me two days ago."

"Well, something came up. I've been taking care of it." The accented voice sounded annoyed as well. "Don't you think I want her dead as well? I wouldn't be risking this if I didn't want it so badly!"

I rolled my eyes, even though it went unnoticed. "Shut up." I said, bored with the attitude. "Just tell me what you know."

"She's gotten close to the Cullens, a family of vegetarians."

"Vegetarians?" I asked irritably.

"Yes, they feed off of animals instead of people."

I made a noise of disgust. "You are what you eat," I said.

He snickered. "Anyways, she disappeared the other night and no one's seen her since. It is the assumption that she is with them. She's getting really close to them. They're a strong, large family. We didn't average them into our equation in the beginning. They might mess up our plans."

I mulled over this new information. I'd known she'd been sent away from Volterra for protection under the pretense of watching this family of vampires, but neither of us had expected her to get close to them. It would have been against her morals and how she worked. But now that she knew I was after her, it made everything more interesting.

"For now, we'll stay with the original plan. But let me know about all about this new development. It may work in our favor." I hung up without waiting for a response, snapping the phone shut. After a moment, my lips slowly curled into a feral smile.

"You can run, Isabella Swan, but you can't hide."

**Ta-da! See, I updated! I actually like this chapter, because of Victoria's little snippet. It adds flavor and, well, tension I suppose. Any guesses on who the traitor is?_ If you send a review with you guess, I will send you a quote from the race, which is coming up next!_ So, review! Laughs and Hugs!**


	14. Ch 14 Racing and Decisions

**I love you, I love you, I love you! My reviewers are the **_**BEST**_**! Twelve of you reviewed, and I loved reading all the guesses for the Traitor. I've definitely gotten it all figured out, and I hope it ends up as a surprise, at least the motive for it. I did see the name of the person on the Phone Traitor pop up, but I didn't say to even the people who guessed it if they were right! And I'm noticing that everyone loves Aaron. If only you all knew the guy he was actually based off of… you'd find him more annoying than amusing most of the time, but he's a good person. Always there to make you laugh. **

**Anyways! This chapter is the race, which I hope you all enjoy. I alone am responsible for any and all errors when it comes to cars, racing, and things mechanical, because I have yet to even own my own vehicle. I don't even own a bike! Sad, I know. But I hope you enjoy yourselves. **

I pulled up in front of the house, and found my car immediately surrounded by five very excited and jealous vampires.

"Bella! It's no fair that you have all these awesome cars! Since you won't be using the Maserati, can I borrow it?" Emmett asked.

I laughed once loudly. "_No_."

He muttered something about stubborn car-lovers and being unfair. I rolled my eyes.

Alice was jumping up and down. "I can't wait, I can't wait!" she squealed. I laughed at her enthusiasm; it was contagious.

Rosalie was giving my car a once over. "Wow, Bells. This is amazing… how fast does it go?"

I snorted. "Like I'd tell you that, Rosalie."

"I can make it faster," she said slyly.

I raised a brow, intrigued. "Before, or after the race?"

She mimicked my expression. "Am I going to be able to borrow your cars?"

I slowly grinned. "It's possible that a negotiation could be reached."

"Then let the negotiations begin."

Jasper was smiling from where he stood. "So, Bella. How are we going to do this?" he asked.

I frowned, thinking it over. "Are Esme and Carlisle participating?"

"No," Edward said softly. "They want to referee."

I nodded. "And how many cars do you guys have for this?"

Rosalie ticked them off on her fingers. "There's the Alpina B7, Edward's Vanquish… um, I suppose we could use the Mercedes, too."

I rolled my eyes. "That means we have to team up." I muttered, mainly to myself.

Alice jumped forward and grabbed my wrist possessively. "I want to be with Bella!" she chirped. Then looked apologetically at Jasper. "Sorry, Jazzie, but Bella has an amazing car."

He laughed. "No problem Alice. I'll team up with Edward."

Rosalie sighed. "But that means I'm with Emmett!" she whined.

Emmett pouted. "What's wrong with me, babe?"

She gave him a pointed look. "You get too competitive."

"I do not!" he denied. Everyone stared at him and he shifted slightly. "Well, I might be a _little _competitive, but still!"

With a sigh, I continued. "The other day, after I mentioned the race, I went looking for a place to have it at. It's about an hour away, really secluded. Mainly dirt roads… but it should work."

They all agreed, and Rosalie and I headed to the garage, discussing our negotiations. We came to the agreement that she would increase the speed of my Lexus in time for tomorrow, and I'd let her drive the Maserati and Lexus any time as long as she asked and I didn't need them for anything. I also promised to tell her where I got the information on my cars from one day.

About midday on Sunday, we were ready to get racing. Esme and Carlisle were on the sidelines, ready to watch and keep track of how many laps everyone finished. I sat on the hood of my Lexus with Alice. Rosalie and Emmett were a distance away with the BMW Alpina B7, Edward and Jasper about the same distance in the other direction with the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. It had been decided that as of the moment we reached our temporary track, no one was allowed to use their powers.

"Hey, Alice?" I said. "Remind me of the rules again?"

She sighed. "No powers, what so ever. Each member of the team has to drive an equal number of laps. Altogether, there are twelve, so each person has to drive six. You can not bring someone else in for you. You can not change cars." She looked at me. "I think that's it."

I grinned. "Perfect."

Her eyebrows rose. "Why? What are you thinking, Bella?"

I looked at her, wide-eyed and innocent. "Whatever are you talking about, Alice?"

She gave me an 'you-don't-fool-me' look and hopped down to the ground, placing her hands on her tiny hips. "Isabella Marie Swan, you have a plan," she began sternly, "and I want to know it!" she finished excitedly.

I snickered, and gestured her closer. "No one said we couldn't… well, pretty much there's no rule that says no cheating." I muttered, barely moving my lips so that none of the others would notice I'd picked up on this little detail. It was the kind of detail that you pick up on after hanging around the guys in the Volturi guard (mainly Aaron and Alec) for three years, and learned to take advantage of it.

Alice's brow furrowed. "I thought that's a given?"

I snorted. "Alice, honey. If no one says it in the rules, then it's not a rule, is it? And no one said common unwritten rules applied."

She grinned slowly. "Well. I'll go take care of Jaz and Edward, while you can take are of Emmett and Rosalie."

I saluted her. "Will do. Once you get back. We don't want to leave the car unprotected, do we?"

She giggled, and we worked out our plan of action before she skipped off. A few minutes later, I saw Edward wandering away from his car, shaking his head. I waved to him, and he came over.

"What did Alice want with Jasper?" I asked.

He looked at me. "She didn't tell you?" he asked, leaning against the hood

I shook my head. "All she said was that it was urgent, and important for the race."

He snorted, shaking his head again. "I think she wanted a good luck… _kiss_."

I laughed loudly. "Oh. Well, yes, that must be important for our winning." I said.

Edward gave me a look. "Who says you're going to win?"

I rolled my eyes. "Because I always win these things. I think I may have lost once, but it was debatable. Actually, I think it's still a heated argument over in Volterra."

"…Debatable?"

I looked away, actually a little embarrassed. "Yes, well…" I said uncomfortably. "See, I raced Jane once, after we had a… disagreement. We both crashed over the finish line, but everyone was afraid to say Jane lost, or that I lost, so…" I shrugged. "I say I won, Jane says she did. I have yet to find someone who tells the actual truth." I peered at him. "You might be able to figure it out, if you'd care to risk Jane's wrath."

He laughed. "What makes you so sure that it'll be her that lost?"

I shrugged. "Well, see, I've never lost, unless you want to count that time, and besides." I smirked. "She'd be docile compared to me."

Alice came skipping over to us, smiling hugely. I watched as a few moments later, Jasper appeared behind her, hair windblown, looking a bit bewildered. She stopped in front of us. "Okay. We'll win now." she said.

Edward rolled his eyes and shrugged off from the car, heading back to Jasper.

"Did it work?" I asked her quietly.

She nodded. "I loosened the wire you showed me just like you said."

I smiled. "Great. Now to try to trick Rosalie and Emmett."

I hopped down and slowly headed over to them.

"Hey, Rose!" I called when I was a short distance away. She looked up from under the hood. "Alice wants to ask you something, about outfits or whatever." I scrunched my face in distaste.

Rosalie straightened, as Emmett said, "Bella! Ready to lose?"

I snorted as Rosalie walked off, shaking her head sadly as she paused by her husband before continuing past him.

"Emmett, it's never good to be cocky.

His brow scrunched in confusion. "What about you? You're always cocky."

I shook my head. "No, Emmett, I'm not cocky. I'm assured in my abilities. I know I'll win, because I always do."

He snorted, rolling his eyes, and I smirked. "Well, Emmett, let's test your intelligence, and then we can see who knows what they're talking about here." I paused. "Ready?"

"Yeah, sure. Bring it."

I smirked. "Say silk three times."

"Silk, silk, silk." he said, confused.

"What do cows drink?"

"Milk."

I laughed. "Why don't you go ask Carlisle the same thing, and see what he says. I promise you it'll be different."

With a frown, muttering the whole thing over to himself, Emmett walked to where Carlisle and Esme stood. Moving swiftly, I taped a sharp knife just above the tire, where it would slowly rip and tear, but be invisible to the outside eye. Then, glancing around to make sure no one saw, I headed back to where Alice and Rosalie were now dressed in racing outfits. I raised a brow at them.

"Playing dress-up?" I asked.

Rosalie smirked. "You're just a party-pooper."

I rolled my eyes. "If Emmett asks you a question about silk and cows, just know that he got it completely wrong."

Alice laughed. "He said milk, didn't he?"

I snorted. "Duh. I sent him to ask Carlisle, because we all know he wouldn't have believed me if I told him it was water."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "I better go comfort him." With a wave, she went back to her vehicle. Alice and I grinned at each other.

Soon after we were lining up at the appointed starting line.

"Alright!" Esme said, not having to raise her voice with our superb hearing. "Start your engines."

I gunned mine, keeping my foot on the break, grinning out the window at Emmett, who was to my left, with Rosalie driving; Edward and Jasper were to the right of my car, so Alice was grinning at her husband, their driver. Alice was going to drive the last middle fourth through ninth laps, while I drove now, then at the end. I'd get us a lead, hopefully, then take over at the end, where I always had the most fun.

"Go!" Esme said, just as Carlisle dropped a bright green cloth from up ahead. I released my hold on the break, and peeled ahead of them. Jasper and Rosalie quickly caught up, though, and hung to the back of my car. We made it to the first turn, and Rose slid under me to the inside, passing me up by half a car length.

"Go, Bella, go, go, go!" Alice screamed, gripping the handle bar above her door tightly and pointing out the windshield.

"Shut up, Alice! I know what I'm doing!" I was now competing against Jasper to stay in second. At the second turn, I gained a slight lead, then gently bumped against the left front of their car. It loosened a bit, and I pulled ahead to catch the drag behind Rosalie. I kept it up until the third turn, then slid under her and passed her. Alice waved cheerfully out the window at them as we pulled ahead. By turn four, we had a lead of a few car lengths.

It was in the ending straightaway of the second lap that Jasper's and Edward's car broke down, steam coming out from under the hood. Alice and I laughed loudly, giving a quick high five. We had gotten halfway around the "track" when we heard their car start up again. I screeched to a stop as I finished that third lap, opened the door, slid across the hood, and got into Alice's seat; she'd climbed across the middle of the seats. As soon as I closed the door, she was pulling away again; Rosalie and Emmett were right there with us, and Jasper must have really been pushing the Vanquish, because they were catching up pretty fast.

It was the third turn of the sixth lap when somehow, Rosalie was no longer driving, Emmett was. He punched down on the gas pedal, and I watched as the pulled ahead of us on the outside of the turn, bumping our car on the way.

"Hey!" Alice yelled, slamming her hand on the horn. I could see Emmett laughing from the driver's seat.

"We'll see who's laughing when a tire blows," I muttered darkly.

Alice frowned. "Are you sure it'll work?"

I nodded. "Alec did it to my car once. I blew up his favorite car, then busted his new video game as punishment. We reached a truce by him showing me how to do it so that the tire lasts for a while before fully popping, and I promised never to use it against him."

With a shake of her head, Alice said, "Bella, you have issues."

I shrugged. "I know."

About the eighth lap, Edward, who was now driving, passed us.

"Dammit!" Alice screeched. "Now we're last!"

I smirked. "Not for long." We were nearing the end of the ninth lap when it happened. Just past the finished line, I saw Rose and Emmett's vehicle spin out, Emmett with a panicked look on his face as he slammed the breaks. Alice wiggled between me and the seat as I maneuvered uncomfortably to get again to the driver's seat. From outside, I could see Emmett and Rose looking in shock at the blown tire. Rosalie pulled the knife from it with a look of shock, then glanced over at us. Alice and I waved cheerily.

Emmett, glaring, kicked the car's blown tire. "This is all your fault, you know that?" he told it.

I laughed and raced by them. Though it wasn't an ideal track, my car was perfect for drifting, and I began to do so around the corners. Alice didn't say anything, but I could see the unease on her face each time I did it.

By the end of the tenth lap, I was right on Edward's tail, and he was doing everything he could to keep me there. I got the drag from behind him, and pulled up so that we were racing side by side. Neither of us gained a definite lead, even by the time the eleventh lap was ending. Into the first turn of the last lap, Edward and Jasper pulled ahead slightly on the inside. Jasper leaned out the window, something in his hands.

"Alice…" I said slowly.

He dropped them, and I got a brief chance to identify the objects. Marbles. My tires hit them the next instant, and the wheels spun slightly on the odd traction. I fought to keep the car from spinning out as it became loose, then gritted my teeth as it evened out.

Edward and Jasper were going to pay for that.

I caught up to them in turn three, then bumped their back end. I glared out the front windshield and Edward glared at me in the rearview mirror. There was perfect drag and then in turn four, I slid to the outside and re-introduced my foot the pedal to the floor. We shot past them, and were barely a nose in front when we crossed the finish line.

I immediately slammed the brakes, jerking the Lexus to a stop, got out, and approached Edward.

"You could have wrecked my car!" I snapped.

He glared angrily. "Oh, and I suppose Emmett loosened the plugs in my Vanquish? While Jasper was being distracted?"

I smirked. "Not my fault you didn't notice the flaws in the rules. I did nothing wrong."

"Neither did I!" he shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

Esme came over. "Alright you two, knock it out! Now, Bella, I can see where you're coming from, and I suppose that in Volterra they're really competitive, but here that is not the way it works."

Edward smirked. "So I win." I glared daggers at him and started plotting the best revenge.

Rosalie and Emmett came over from where they had been standing with their car.

"Yeah, but, you cheated too then Edward." Rosalie pointed out. I smiled at her quickly. She met my gaze sideways. "Actually, I'm surprised none of us noticed it sooner, because you guys all get some competitive at your games, this sounds like something _you'd _do. But, if you're going to knock Bella out for cheating, then Edward and Jasper have to be too, which means Em and I win."

Jasper's and Edward's mouths both fell open. "No!"

Esme rolled her eyes as Carlisle came over to put his hand on her shoulder.

"Rosalie has a point. We'll put it to a vote. Who thinks that there should be disqualification for cheating?"

Emmett was the only one to raise his hand. He looked around at us all in shock.

"Alright. Then Bella and Alice are the winners." Esme said, sounding relieved to have it settled.

"Hey! No fair! I want a rematch of the rematch!" We all looked at him. "What? _I _didn't cheat, so it isn't fair!"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Emmett, how can you have a rematch of a rematch? It just wouldn't make sense!"

I fought the urge to smirk. "Yeah, I mean, I'd just win again."

Jasper laughed. "You play an interesting game, Bella." he told me, wrapping his arms around Alice. "What do the winners get?" he whispered into his ear.

Alice giggled. "I don't know, what do you think I should get?"

A slow smiled curved his lips. "I'm sure I can think of something suitable."

I looked away from the perfect couple, shoving quickly aside the pain that accompanied being near them. It was something I was used to, but that didn't make it easier to deal with, especially in the large dosages that was the love of Alice and Jasper.

Emmett was still pouting, arms folded across his chest. I knew he'd get over, so I didn't bother trying to make amends with him. Jasper obviously didn't care, as didn't Rose. But Edward….

I watched as Edward slid into the seat of his Vanquish and tore off without another look back. Abruptly, I felt tired and rubbed the back of my tense neck.

"He's just overly sensitive about his cars." I glanced back at Emmett, who had his arms wrapped around Rosalie from behind and was watching me, his chin on her shoulder. He seemed to have forgiven me already.

"I didn't think he'd take it so seriously." I admitted.

Rosalie tilted her head, golden locks swishing. "I think he's just… confused. I don't know, I'm not him, but he…" she stopped and shrugged. "It's Edward. His thought process rarely makes sense until after he does something and gives a reason why."

I rolled my eyes. "Great. Just what I need." And with that, I headed to the Lexus and got in, unsure where I was going, but knowing it was away from here.

Victoria's POV

I was in Las Vegas now, closer to where I would kill Isabella. But I was taking my time, planning out fully how I was going to kill her, painfully slowly. Yet even the longest I could think to drag it out before killing her that allowed me to make it away with my life wasn't long enough. It would never cover the pain of her killing James, my love, my mate.

Resisting the urge to shriek with fury, pain, and frustration, I absently chased down a meal, fed, and disposed of the body well enough that forensic scientists would be stumped as to what happened.

I wanted to head straight to Forks, Washington, and kill Bella, but I was no longer in this alone. I had to have someone on the inside to keep the heat away from me long enough to escape, and that required doing it the long way.

So now I had something to check out in California. Oh, joy.

Then I grinned. It was one step closer to my revenge. To avenging my James.

It was worth it.

APOV

I noticed from the corner of my eye as Bella went straight to our winning car, climbed in, and tore away, not once looking back. With a sigh, I pulled away from Jasper to glance around at present company. Edward was gone, as was his Vanquish, his special occasions car, more precious than his silver Volvo.

Rosalie was shaking her head. "This didn't exactly turn our how I thought it would," she siad.

Emmett nodded. "Yeah, I thought we'd win, with your amazing mechanical skills and my brilliance."

Sometimes I wondered if Emmett purposefully acted a little dense. I knew he was smart, but he sometimes took a moment with that intelligence. He just preferred using brute strength.

We all gave him a look.

"What?! I was joking about the brilliance part!"

I rolled my eyes as Jasper chuckled.

"So… what did you mean, if not the race's outcome?" he asked slowly.

I looked at Rosalie.

She turned to face her husband. "Edward's reaction was unexpected. I though they were getting closer." she added, turning back to face me.

I shrugged. "I thought so too. She was opening up, he wasn't being a dumbass as much; yet here we are, back at square one."

Jasper shook his head. "Not square one, I think. Edward just needs time to cool off. She confuses him, he doesn't ever know how to react around her, and it frustrates him. But yes, I agree. He could have made a little more effort to lighten up here."

Emmett snorted. "It wasn't even that much of a deal to all of you guys! It was mine and Bella's rematch, after all."

He had a point, I thought.

I sighed. "Yes, but Bella will close off again. She does that every time we bring up her past with the Volturi, or when she thinks she did something wrong. " I felt distressed. She seemed to beat herself up over things beyond her control, like she should have been able to prevent other people's actions and mistakes. It was unhealthy.

Esme started to say something, but it was like a bunch of fading gibberish as I was pulled into a vision, the tunnel-like encroaching of darkness pulling me away from the dirt track with my family and into something that may or may not happen.

_Bella and Aaron entered the cafeteria, him casting concerned looks her way every few seconds. Bella didn't seem to notice, and simply stepped into the lunch line. Aaron sighed and followed her. Emmett waved from across the cafeteria, at our usual table, but Bella's eyes slid over him like he didn't exist. Hurt and confused, Emmett lowered his hand and returned to sitting fully. _

_"Bella," Edward said, stopping her in the middle of the cafeteria. She tensed as his hand closed over her forearm. "I apologize for my actions this morning, but it was for the best."_

_Suddenly, Aaron was there, glaring with anger. "Just leave her alone, dude. Haven't you insulted her enough?"_

_Edward glared. "I was only-"_

_"Stop trying to act all self-righteous. You barely know her, so just leave her alone." I could see the resemblance of how Emmett and Aaron acted; they both had strong older-brother instincts. _

_The whole lunch room was watching the scene unfold._

_"It's better if she just leaves here." Edward insisted in a hiss. _

_Bella flinched, and it didn't escape Aaron's notice. He shoved Edward away from Bella, who looked like she was trying to hide all the emotion from those around her._

_"It's fine, Aaron. Edward's right. It is better if I just left."_

_Aaron turned to face her in surprise. "Bella?"_

_Without a second word or glance, Bella turned and walked out of the cafeteria. Aaron shoved Edward one more time, hard enough to make him stumble backwards a few feet, then rushed out after her._

Everything went white, like it had been before when I'd looked for Bella's future and she was blocking me.

Everyone was gathered around me, concerned; that had been one of the longer visions I'd ever had.

Jasper, feeling my distress and unhappiness, wrapped his arms around me. "Shh, Alice. What did you see?"

"Edward… he's going to tell Bella to leave!" I cried out. Everyone looked shocked. "And she's going to listen to him!"

Jasper rubbed my back soothingly, sending waves of calm my way. I gave him a thankful look, which he returned with a loving smile that warmed me to my frozen vampire toes.

Rosalie looked murderous. "Why should she leave? Nothing's wrong with her!"

Almost all of us glanced at Rosalie in surprise.

"I didn't realize you actually liked her enough to care," I admitted.

Rosalie looked at the ground sheepishly. "Well, I was really just jealous of the cars. But since she'd not nearly as possessive of them when it comes to me as she is with all of you, then I realized that I was being stupid, and really do like her."

"Are you sure you just don't want her to leave because you want easy access to her cars?"

Rose gave Jasper an annoyed look, but then smiled slightly at his teasing.

Esme shook her head sadly. "Where's Edward?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, just driving from what I can tell," I answered, peeking into his future. "Rosalie will have to drive us in the M3 tomorrow. He's not sure if he'll be back in time."

They all nodded, and I leaned against Jasper, sad and worried. Bella had barely been with our family for a week, yet we all loved her. She belonged with us. I could feel it, even if she prevented me from seeing it with her indecision and blocking. We were all meant to be a family.

BPOV

I didn't want to go back to the Cullen's house and face them again. I was causing enough discord among them just by upsetting Edward. They were close-knit, and if one was out of wack, the other were sure to be affected. It was best I pull away now and let them be happy. I sighed miserably, but felt determination resolve. Yes, I would keep my distance without being hostile like before, and then would return to Volterra and my previous life and forget all about them. It was for the best, I repeated to myself. Before they get too attached.

I pulled up in front of the hotel, noting absently that Heidi's car was gone still, wondering how far they'd gone to hunt. In a daze, I went up to the suite and opened the door.

Aaron glanced up as I entered the living room.

"Hey, Bells." he said, surprised. "I didn't expect… to…" He stopped, concerned. "What happened?"

I shook my head. "I upset them. Especially Edward. And they're so close, Aaron, I don't want to wreck their family or anything." I sighed, dropping down next to him and curling my feet under me. Aaron wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.

"Bella, if they can't accept you as you are, then they're not worth it." I glanced up at him and he smiled, his bright red eyes gentle. Most vampires couldn't pull off gentle and red eyes, yet Aaron always could. If he weren't like a brother, then I'd probably find him attractive, personality and looks wise. But we were firmly brother and sister.

Which was proven by what he said next. "Listen, do you want me to go beat up the guy? No one messes with my Bella's feelings and gets away unscathed."

I laughed, then sighed. "No. I'm just going to leave them be. It's not like they need someone like me hanging around with them anyways. I'd just cause them grief."

He rolled his eyes. "Bella, you are so weird. Get a life, and quite being so self sacrificing and dramatic. And some flavor in your life!"

I glanced at him. "And how do I add flavor?"

He frowned, stumped. "Huh. Um… Taco Bell? Are they always going 'Spice up your life'? So, um, since we're vampires, and can't eat human food, I guess you can have someone who just had Taco Bell. You are what you eat." he added with a chuckle.

I looked at him. "I never got that line, and it never worked. You have to be the most hilarious, weird person I've ever met, yet I can't help but love you as that crazy brother you're ashamed to admit relations to."

He laughed and tightened his hold around me. "Same to you Bells. Same to you. Only, not brother, but sister. Wait." He looked at me suspiciously. "You never had a sex change in your life, have you? You weren't originally a guy, were you? Cause then I'd have to kick your ass."

I laughed, my black mood lifting slightly. "No, I've always been a girl. Thank God," I muttered.

"What's wrong with being a guy?" he asked defensively.

"Nothing, nothing!" I laughed, looking around. "Hey, where are Cate and Heidi?" I asked, looking back at him.

He shrugged, suddenly looking a little nervous. "Um, you see, they went hunting farther south. If all three of us hunted in the same area, it'd be a little suspicious. I took a cab back up here earlier this morning. They won't be back until tomorrow or…" he paused and thought. "Tomorrow or the day after, I think. I don't know. Nobody ever tells me anything!" he whined.

I laughed. "There's a reason for that," I told him.

He stuck his tongue out at me, then grinned evilly. With a smooth movement, he threw me over his shoulder and headed to the Jacuzzi like bathtub.

"No, Aaron!" I squealed. With a grin, he threw me in and then our games of annoyance and revenge began, lasting until dawn, when we hurried to get ready for school.

My mood had cheered up considerably with Aaron, but now, no longer distracted, I felt unease churn inside me. I wasn't sure I could face the Cullens anymore, but I didn't want them to hate me. Hopefully, they'd understand. This distance between us was for the best.

**There it is. This chapter refused to go the way I planned on it going, and now I think something completely different than I had planned out is going to happen. I'm going to let the story go with the way it wants to be written, besides - the characters are so stubborn, I hate arguing with them!**

**I will still, and always will, be willing for guesses on who the Traitor(s) is/are. Some people think there may be more than one, some think only one... it's all a matter of opinion to you guys, because I am the only one who knows! A lot of my chapters have hints at it, but as I mentioned - I don't think many people will see coming what actually happens! **

**So please - leave a review, they really encourage my writing to come out faster. I absolutely love getting feedback from all of you! Hope you enjoyed!**


	15. Ch 15 Movies and Phone Calls

**Here is chapter 15. I've been working on it off and on all day, trying to get it perfect for you guys. I had to change what I had planned because of the twist in the last chapter, but I think I like where this is going. This chapter is extremely long, almost ridiculously so, so please enjoy and review! There's only a couple more chapters left, I think. **

I dropped my head onto the desk I sat at in the English room. Mike came over and I heaved a huge sigh. On with the games of high school.

"Bella! You weren't here Friday! Were you sick?"

I nodded, closing my eyes while not lifting my head from the desk. Mike's brow furrowed.

"Bella? Are you alright?"

I sighed and shrugged. Maybe, if I gave him barely any answers, he'd just give up and leave me alone.

He put a hand on my shoulder. The burning heat from his fresh moving blood _should_ have made me thirsty, but the Cullen's veggie diet seemed to be helping. It tasted completely different from what I was used to, yet not bad. When I went back to Volterra, I'd tell Aro that I was no longer going to follow his diet lifestyle. No more feasts. I would go hunt my own food down. I already had control (sort of a job requirement) but the animal blood was enough to help me not feel as much desire. I could now ignore the constant thirst. I'd have to remember to go by the hospital and thank Carlisle before I went back to Italy.

"Do you want to go to the nurse's office?"

I shook my head. Mike left, and I heard as he whispered to the teacher, Mr. Banner. I internally rolled my eyes; the teacher came over and touched my shoulder.

"No," I muttered before he could ask. "I don't need to go to the nurse's office. I never said I was sick. I'm just not in a good mood today. Just leave me be, please."

The teacher stood there in shocked silence for a while, then cleared his throat. "Um. Sure." He went back to the front of the classroom.

Aaron didn't even bother trying to drag me out of my quiet thinking state, just let me do what I wanted.

Lunch was awkward. I sat with Aaron at Jessica and Mike's table. It nearly drove me insane. I'd noticed that all the Cullens, except - of course - Edward, watched me apprehensively, glancing over uneasily at Edward. Once I sat down, they seemed to relax. I shrugged it off and picked at my food.

Aaron stopped me on my way to biology. "Bells, just ditch. You know that bio will be too uncomfortable."

I glanced at him. He was right; my stomach was churning just with the thought of going and sitting there.

"Alright," I muttered, lowering my head. He wrapped an arm around me and led the way to the Lexus. My Maserati and Arrow were both at the Cullens, but I didn't want to go fetch them. Not today. Aaron opened the passenger's door and I got in without complaint. He went around, at a human pace, to the driver's side and got in, starting it up.

We were almost to Port Angeles when he finally spoke. "Bella."

I made a noise of acknowledgment. I just didn't feel like talking.

He sighed, and I glanced at him in surprise. He must be upset or nervous to be this serious.

"Bella," he said again. "Are… are you going to leave the Volturi?"

I blinked. "No. Aro won't let me." Wasn't that obvious?

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I mean, if you could, _would _you leave?"

"I-I," I stuttered. "Aaron, it doesn't matter, because I _can't_."

He glared at me, and it was frightening. Aaron rarely got angry, or even upset, so when he did, somehow it seemed more frightening than if he were always angry.

"Listen to the question, Bells. If you _could_, _would _you?"

"Yes," I whispered, ducking my head down.

He nodded, like he had already suspected the answer. "Okay. I can see why; you never really did fit in with the crowd." He eyed me. "Now, answer me this. Are you in love?"

I turned to him, again surprised. He didn't act like it, but Aaron was insightful and smart. I often forgot it because he never acted serious. And just like his anger, when he was serious, it was a somber discussion.

"Aaron…" I started; he gave me a sharp look. "I don't know. I think I might be… but it doesn't matter."

He rolled his eyes. "You never made much sense, Bells, but I have a feeling what you say next is going to take the cake. Why doesn't it matter?"

I looked out the window. "Because. He doesn't feel the same, and anyways. He deserves better. It'd be better if I just left, you know? Take this danger with me away from here, because you know Victoria is going to come here after me. And I'm putting all these people in danger just by being here."

He snorted. "I'm not going to even try to say anything, because it's pointless to argue with you." We pulled up in front of the hotel and Aaron got out, slamming his door as I stood also. "But just remember this, Bells. Those Cullens obviously care about you. That, or I imagined all the concerned looks they gave you. It'd be stupid to pretend that's not true."

I stared at Aaron for a long moment, knowing what he said was right, but not wanting to acknowledge it. Then I just walked back into the hotel, up to our room, and fell face first onto the bed in the room I'd claimed.

* * *

_FIVE WEEKS LATER_

I stared ahead of me blankly. Aro had yet to allow me to leave. He was of the opinion that I was safe here, but I was getting fidgety. The green forests, that had seemed like a good place to hide before, now felt made me feel like someone could be hiding behind them and watching me. There were too many places for an enemy to hide without being detected.

Cate put her hand on my shoulder as I stared around me in the woods, uneasy. I jumped, and she raised a brow in question and concern. "Bella? Are... what's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. I just feel like I'm being watched again." I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face. "Cate?" I asked. "Have you spoken to Aro recently?"

She nodded. "Yeah. And he just said to wait, again. He doesn't think she'll find you here. Also, he said he trusts that since you've been hanging out with the Cullens, that they'll help keep an eye on you." She peered at me. "I'm not so sure about that."

I gave her an angry, annoyed look. "There's nothing wrong with the Cullens, Cate. They've been nothing but nice."

She shrugged. "Just because they're nice, doesn't mean they'll help protect you when it comes to a fight."

I snarled at her, and she backed off, hands raised in surrender.

The Cullens had been nothing but kind over the past five weeks. About a week and a half after the race, Emmett and Alice had cornered me in the halls.

_"Bella, why are you avoiding us? Did we insult you?" asked Alice sadly._

_ "No, Alice," I told her. "You guys didn't do anything."_

_"Then stop avoiding us." Emmett said. "You are now officially invited to our Movie Night this Saturday."_

And that had been that. Every weekend, Alice and Emmett made sure I was there, even if the two had to come all the way to my hotel and carry me, protesting, over Emmett's shoulder out to his jeep. Which had happened on more than one occasion. Usually, I had fun. Things became uncomfortable occasionally, like when on Movie Night and all the couples had been close and cuddly. Leaving Edward and I sitting next to each other on the couch; I'd been hyper aware of him the entire movie, unable to watch it. If someone had asked me what happened (which no one did thankfully), I wouldn't have been able to tell them. All I had been able to focus on was the electric surge I'd felt from Edward and not touching him like my fingers had itched to do.

We both acted distantly cordial to each other. It hurt, but I encouraged it. Even when he'd tried to get closer in the first week or so after the race, I had just pushed him back away. He'd finally stopped trying to get closer and I'd relaxed. But even though I pushed him away, I treasured every second that I pulled in his scent, that uniquely Edward smell. Every moment in his company was embedded into my memory.

But no one else knew that.

We pulled up, in my Arrow which I'd gotten back about two weeks ago, in front of the school. I stepped out, Cate following; Aaron was hunting. i was immediately grabbed into a tight squeeze by Alice. I peered down at her with a brow raised.

"Alice, why are you trying to break my ribs?" I asked curiously.

She let me go, smiling in relief, as Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Edward all caught up to her and reached us.

"I saw this vision of you! It was horrible!" Fear crossed her face. "I was afraid it'd happened already!"

I eyed her, feeling suspicion and fear well up in me, but I fought it down. It wouldn't do to let on to the Cullens about how much danger I was in. So far, I'd managed to just let them know that I was here, and being watched by Cate, Heidi, and Aaron, but they didn't know why or anything. Or how serious it was becoming as no one was able to find Victoria.

"What happened?" Cate asked in her no nonsense, business, Volturi Guard voice.

"Well..." Alice said slowly. "Bella was tied up in a small, dark room. Someone was breaking her fingers, one by one. Then they..." Alice stopped. "It was bad. Do you want all the details? Or just the gist?" I could hear how reluctant she was to recount the vision.

"Gist." I said, just as Cate said, "Details."

I glared at her, but she just raised her chin. "Aro will want the details. What if something seems unimportant to them, but is vital and helps us find Victoria?"

I sighed; she was right. I gave Alice an apologetic look, but gestured for her to do as Cate said.

"Then they pulled out each of her fingernails, broke every bone in her body, and set all the separate pieces on fire. Then this red-head I've seen before in other visions concerning Bella came into view, told her it was all for James, and that she should have chosen her friends better. Then she set... she set Bella on fire."

I tensed. Chosen my friends better? Before anyone else could say anything, I was in my Arrow and peeling away. Aro needed to hear this from me, not anyone else.

We had a traitor.

--

"Aro, listen to me!" I said urgently. "Someone is betraying us! I swear!"

"Yes I have proof!" I huffed as he asked where. "From a psychic!"

He laughed, and hung up. I glared angrily at the phone. My request to leave Forks was again denied. At least when I was right, I'd be able to tell him I told you so. And use it against him for the rest of eternity. I smiled at the thought.

There was a knock on the door. I rolled my eyes; Cate must have forgotten her keys again. As I moved to open it for her, I wondered who's care she'd stolen or borrowed.

So imagine my surprise when I open the door to be met by a pair of familiar gold eyes and bronze good looks.

I honestly think my mouth fell open in surprise.

"May I come in?" he asked quietly. I didn't say anything, just stood to the side to let him pass. He stood uncomfortably in the sitting room, waiting for me to join him.

We both just stood there for a while, before he spoke. "Who's after you, Bella?"

I shrugged, since it would be useless and stupid and insulting to act like no one was.

He sighed, running a hand through those gorgeous, bronze, messy locks that I had found myself gazing at more than once.

"Bella, please. Tell me. Maybe we can help you."

I snorted. "Edward, the Volturi are having trouble helping me, do you honestly expect me to believe that you can?"

He glared. "We have a psychic, empath, and mind reader among our seven numbers. We also have a giant brute of a guy who's thinks you're just about the most funny and entertaining person he's ever met. Do you honestly want to tell me that we won't do anything and everything in our power?"

We glared at each other for about ten minutes, unmoving, unrelenting.

"What's the red-hair's name, Bella?" he asked softly.

I sighed, turning away. "Her name is Victoria. I killed her mate, James, because he was drawing too much attention. He fancied himself a tracker, though he wasn't nearly as good at it as Demetri. I cornered them both in New Orleans, immobilized Victoria, and disposed of James. I told her that as long as she did nothing to catch the Volturi's attention, she'd be allowed to live. I also told her not to come after me or else it'd be the last thing she did." I took a deep, unnecessary breast. "About a week before I came here, she sent someone, a friend of her's, Laurent, after me. He managed to break into Volterra, and almost supposedly made it to me, but was taken care of. I later told Aro that meant he had inside help, but Aro just waved it away, confident no one would dare cross him like that; he had sent me here under pretenses of recording and observing your family's movements. I was sure I'd have to kill at least one of you at some point." I turned finally to face him, hands on hips, watching his reaction to my words. "I was ready to do it, too. I knew where you lived, habits, almost everything about you that I would need to know if I were to kill you, by the time you came back that next week. I could have done it."

He nodded slowly. "You could have. But I don't think you would have," he added slowly, like he was unsure about my reaction to his words.

Again, I sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm not sure I would have, either." I offered a small smile, which he returned with that knee-weakening crooked grin.

I swallowed, and continued. "I didn't know she was after me until Aaron, Cate, and Heidi showed up, though I suspected there was an ulterior motive for Aro sending me here before then. They are supposed to protect me. I didn't think I'd need them, until this morning, and Alice's vision." I fell into an arm chair. "Someone is betraying me, someone I consider a friend." I was in shock, disbelief, and terribly afraid. If someone was betraying me, Victoria knew where I was, probably enough about me and how I worked that she'd be able to get to me like no one else never had.

Edward crouched down in front of me, hooking his finger under my chin and lifting my face to meet his. "Bella. I can't imagine how unnerving it must be to have someone you thought you could trust tricking you like this. So... maybe it would be best if you stayed away from all your old friends. How do you know they aren't the ones leaking information out to this Victoria?"

I looked at him. "How do I know that it isn't any of you?"

He looked shocked, and insulted, and I immediately felt bad. "Not that I think it is, it's just... I don't know you guys. I was trained to be suspicious and cautious of everyone." I let out a small, dark laugh. "I think they screwed up any social skills I may have had."

Edward nodded slowly. "Is that why you're always pushing my family and I away?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "What?" I choked out in shock.

He smiled slightly, looking dryly amused. "You think we didn't notice? We thought it might have been something about us."

I shook my head. "No. You're family... they're amazing. I don't know why they seem to think otherwise." I quickly interrupted when he opened his mouth. "Well, with my actions, I suppose it can be misleading, but really. It's me, not them."

He did that fabulous crooked grin, again. I wondered if he did it on purpose.

"I'll let them know that you said that." Then the grin faded. "But, seriously, Bella. If someone is betraying you, and you don't know who, then perhaps it would be safer if you were with people who couldn't and wouldn't leak out information and betray you."

I was shaking my head, again. I seemed to be doing that a lot. "They'd just send Victoria after you guys when they learned I was there. Or, if they didn't, Victoria would come here to Forks, because she obviously knows where I am by now, and she would find me with you and your family, and she'd use you guys against me. Do you think I could let her hurt Alice or Esme or someone else, just so I could get away? I would go straight up to her and bargain with her for their release."

Edward shook his head. "We can defend ourselves. Jasper used to be in the armies down in the south, under a certain Maria."

"Maria?" I laughed. Then scoffed. "I killed her about a year ago. She was getting too power-hungry again." I rolled my eyes. "She was vicious." I held out my arm, pushing up the jacket sleeve, and showed him the long, pale scar that stretched from the back of my shoulder to about halfway down my upper arm, curling around to the inside of my arm. "This was her parting gift." I laughed.

Edward traced it with a finger, making me fight off a shiver. "Jasper has scars all up and down his arms... but none this big. What happened?"

Suddenly self-concious, I shrugged. "She tried to attack me from behind, and I tore her forward and away from me. I barely noticed she had bitten me and torn the skin like that until Aaron pointed it out." I pulled the sleeve back down and hide the nearly invisible scar.

Edward shook his head. "Bella, please. Let us help you."

I shook my head. "Edward... I can't-"

He cut me off. "Bella. We're obviously not going to get anywhere on this subject." He stood up and wandered over to the television.

"What are you doing?" I asked, folding my legs under me.

He glanced over at me, that crooked grin back in place. "I figured, since there isn't anywhere else that sounds better to go to, and you won't want to go back to school, we'd watch a movie." He went back to shuffling through the DVDs. Then he laughed.

"What?" I asked, shifting slightly to try to peer over his shoulder at the DVD case he was holding. He didn't say anything at first, just held the case up for my view.

I grinned. "Oh." It was the Blade Trinity movie.

"Why do you have this?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Aaron likes to make fun of Hollywood and their inaccurate perception of vampires. And according to him, this one has the best plot. And he loves that UV bow thing the chick hunter has. He said it's kick-ass." I rolled my eyes.

Edward grinned and put the movie in. Then he came to the couch next to my arm chair and settled onto it. I got up and turned off the lights, then paused, thinking. Edward glanced at me, then the space on the couch next to him. I smiled slightly and moved to sit next to him. I put a pillow in my lap and wrapped my arms around it, preparing for some kicking of ass.

Edward and I would quietly critique the movie whenever there wasn't any talking, sometimes laugh out loud about the extravagant myths for vampires they'd come up with.

"What is with the whole jaw unhinging thing? I mean, where do they come up with this stuff?" Edward chuckled.

I shrugged. "I think they're trying to be realistic. Or, at least, make it seem different. I get it kind of with the dogs, though I have no idea how they change dogs."

Edward shrugged. "I do admit, the weapons are pretty cool."

I nodded. "Aaron and I fight over who gets the bow all the time."

We watched it for a while longer.

I fanned myself in exaggeration. Edward looked at me questioningly. I pointed at the screen. "I wouldn't have to explain that action to Rose or Alice. Hannibal is _hot_."

Edward rolled his eyes, and then a calculating look entered his eyes. I watched him cautiously. "What?" I asked.

Edward leaned closer to me. "Is he really hot?"

I swallowed. "Yes?"

"Hotter than... hm, Aaron?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"Emmett?"

"Yes."

"Jasper?"

"Mhm."

He smirked. "Me?"

I blinked once, unable to speak.

"Well?" he asked after a moment, leaning closer so his breath fanned across my face, stunning my senses.

"Uh... I don't know?" I answered. He was dazzling me again. How unfair.

He leaned even closer, so close that I swore I could feel electricity jump from his lips down to mine. It was driving me crazy, and I wanted to close the distance between us so badly, it scared me. His hand came up and brushed along my jaw, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Are you sure?" he murmured, and I could actually feel each movement of his lips against my own.

"Um," I breathed, but that was as far as I got. Edward's lips closed the distance, however microscopic it had been, and pressed against mine.

But I doubted either of us expected my reaction.

His scent swirled around me, intoxicating, giddying, drawing me in until I had no hope of escaping. But that wasn't the least of it all. He tasted about a million times better, and I greedily kissed him back, my hands wrapping up and around to tangle in his bronze hair. I'd fantasized about how it would feel. But nothing could compare to actually touching it. It was silky, sifting through my fingers like spun bronze, and I tightened my grip on it, pulling him closer.

Edward wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me up into his lap, as his other hand came up and tilted my head so he could kiss me better. The movie was forgotten, everything was forgotten, except Edward and his lips on mine.

Thank god for not having to breath as a vampire, because I just might have preferred suffocating to releasing his lips just then.

"Bella," he breathed, his lips moving to my jaw, moving to my ear, and the spot behind it. I pressed closer, gasping as his lips continued their exodus down my throat to my collar bone, to the hollow at the base of my throat. He flicked his tongue against the skin there, and I tugged his lips back up to mine.

_I kissed a girl, and I liked it_

_The taste of her cherry chapstick  
_

_I kissed a girl, just to try it_

_I hope my boyfriend don't mind it_

_It felt so wrong_

_ It felt so right_

_Don't mean I'm in love tonight_

_I kissed a girl and I liked it... I liked it  
_

With an annoyed growl, I pulled away and snatched up the phone. "Hello?"

"You can run, but you can't hide, no more fun, let's end this ride."

My blood ran cold, and I heard Edward growl.

"Victoria." I said coolly, not a shred of the nervous fear I was feeling showing. Again, I had to thank Marcus for that hide-what-you're-feeling training I had to go through.

She laughed. "I'll see you soon Bella." The line went dead. I didn't move.

Edward reached up and grabbed the phone from me, closing it after glancing at the number.

"It was Jane's phone." I said quietly.

He glanced at me in surprise. "What?"

"Jane. Little Botticelli angel looking vampire who has the unfortunate talent of causing mental pain. That's the song I programmed for her. Just because we usually don't get along doesn't mean we didn't have each other's numbers. They're for emergency. That song... it's something I set for her number to annoy her. We were all playing truth or dare one time, when jobs were slow, and Aaron dared Jane and I to make out." I tilted my head. "It was... interesting." I looked at Edward. "That was actually just before I left. Jane and I looked at each other, and she said, 'Cherry chapstick?' and I said, 'You like it?'. When we heard the song the next day, I set it as her ring tone." I thought for a moment. "I thought we might have been getting past the whole loathe-with-a-passion thing." I added softly.

Edward pulled me into his arms again, holding me close. Though I knew I should be pushing him away, telling him it was a mistake to fall for me like this and he could do so much better, I couldn't help but rest my head on his shoulder with a sigh. He started humming, and I glanced up at him in surprise.

"What's that?" I asked. It was beautiful.

Edward smiled down at me. "You like it?"

I nodded, and he rewarded me with his crooked grin. "I wrote it," he admitted, then added softly, his lips centimeters from mine, "You inspired it."

I really didn't deserve someone so perfect, but who was I to complain? When life offers you something so perfect, so wonderful, it didn't do to push it away and not enjoy what you had while you had it. So I kissed him again, sighing contentedly.

This time we were interrupted by none other than Alice, Emmett, and Aaron. All three paused in the living room after turning on the lights, surprise on their faces, then they all broke into grins and Alice squealed, clapping her hands. I ducked my head; if I'd been human, I would have been beat red. I'd pretty much just gotten caught making out with my friends' brother.

"I knew it!" She turned to Emmett. "You owe me a shopping trip."

Emmett groaned. "But..."

I shook my head. "Never bet against Alice," I told him. It's a lesson that I had learned quickly enough. Alice just knew these things.

Edward grinned at his brother, arms tight around me. Aaron hadn't said anything, but I knew him well enough that I knew that he was happy I was happy. I re-wrapped my arms around Edward's neck and rested them there. This just seemed to excite Alice even more. She came up and tried to pry me away, probably for details, but I just tightened my grip and she couldn't budge me. These Volturi training tricks really were coming in handy in real life. Aaron glanced at the TV and his mouth dropped open.

"You watched Blade Trinity and didn't call me?" he whined. "That's not fair!"

I rolled my eyes, as Alice blew an annoyed breath out, into a couple strands of spiky black hair, and gave Aaron a look. "Life's not fair."

"Mmm," Edward murmured, lips near my ear, speaking quietly so only I could hear him. "Right now, life seems pretty fair from where I'm sitting."

I smiled and buried my face in his neck, taking a deep breath, finally letting my lungs saturate in his singularly Edward scent. Alice sighed angrily.

"Are you two just going to sit there forever?" she asked, hands on hips.

I smirked at her, and glanced at Edward. "I'd be comfortable."

Edward kissed the top of my head. "Yes. That'd be satisfactory."

Alice groaned in exasperation while Emmett laughed loudly. Aaron rolled his eyes, and behind the Cullens' backs mouthed 'Aro". I grimaced in response to that reminder of reality. Like I wanted to remember right now that I worked for Aro and had a psychotic red-head after me for revenge for her mate.

I pecked Edward's cheek and stood up, his arms slowly slipping from around my waist. "What do you wan-" I didn't even finish the word before Alice had dragged me out into the hall.

"So, Bella," she whispered lowly enough that the guys in the room wouldn't hear us. "Are you in love with Edward?"

I looked sideways at her. "What gives you that idea?"

She glared at me. "Isabella Marie Swan, do you think I'm an imbecile?"

I grimaced. "No, Alice." I said, letting her hear what she wanted. "Edward is a great kisser, by the way."

She sighed. "Bella, I didn't ask if he was a good kisser. I asked if you loved him!"

I gave her a look.

She grinned. "You do!" she squealed near silently. I rolled my eyes. "You're just having trouble admitting it!"

I let her think that, while at the same time subtly and slowly blocking myself from her powers. If she realized that I wasn't going to stay, even if I wanted to, after the whole Victoria thing blew over, I'd never see the light of day again.

We went back inside, me following a skipping Alice, and immediately went to sit on Edward's lap. He wrapped his arms tightly around me.

Aaron spoke up. "Bella, I hate to drag you away from your love here, but I need to hunt and am not allowed to leave you alone..." He did sound apologetic.

With a put upon sigh, I made to rise again, but this time Edward's arms tightened enough that even I couldn't wiggle out of his grasp. "Why don't you go and we'll watch her."

Aaron shook his head, as did I. "He can't, Edward," I said softly. "If anyone found out, Aro'd punish him for disobeying orders."

Though it seemed to make him disappointed, Edward nodded and let me go. I reluctantly rose and followed Aaron out to the car. I was opening the door on the driver's side when suddenly a pair of stone cold arms encircled my waist. His icy, perfect lips pressed against the side of my neck and he whispered in my ear, "I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early?"

I nodded, unable to speak, and he chuckled.

"You need to stop doing that," I mumbled.

"What?" he asked, pulling away slightly.

"Dazzling people. It's unfair."

He grinned crookedly. "Do I dazzle you?"

I smiled slightly. "Frequently."

He pressed his lips to mine briefly. "Good." Then he was being dragged away, by the wrist, by Alice to his shiny silver Volvo while Emmett hopped in a red shiny jeep.

I stepped into the Arrow and started it up, pulling quickly out and towards Seattle. The sooner I took Aaron hunting, the sooner I had a chance of convincing him to come to the Cullens with me.

--

"Come on, Aaron!" I begged again. He gave me a look that said he was tired of arguing.

"Bella, I'll feel uncomfortable. What if they try to, I don't know, convert me or something?!" he whined.

I gave him an 'are-you-serious' look. "Aaron, besides the fact that this isn't a religion, they wouldn't do that! If you don't want to, they won't make you. You won't even feel bad or guilty or annoyed because they won't mention it!" When he rolled his eyes I added, "Please Aaron? I really want to see Edward."

He sighed, rubbing a hand across his eyes. "You really love him, don't you?"

I looked forward out the windshield. I'd never been good at admitting my feelings, not even when I was human, and even more so now. But I managed to nod. He didn't say anything for a while, then gave a short laugh.

"Bella, I'm so happy you found someone. Alright, we can go."

I pressed down on the peddle, and the car sped up even faster. Unfortunately, my cell started ringing.

_I kissed a girl and I liked it_

_The taste of her cherry chapstick_

_I kissed a girl just to try it_

_Hope my boyfriend don't mind it_

I grabbed the phone, uneasy. I'd told Aaron about the call on the way back, before trying to convince him to let me go to the Cullens, and he'd sworn up a storm, putting sailor's to shame. Yet when we'd called, Aro hadn't picked up, it'd just gone straight to voice mail. Aaron had then called Felix, talked for a while, and then hung up and told me Aro had for some reason locked himself in his room, saying his was on the verge of an internet break through.

I answered. "Victoria."

She laughed harshly. "Bella. I hear you have a new friend. Or maybe he's no longer a friend? A certain Edward Cullen?"

My grip tightened on the wheel and the phone until I wondered if I was going to break it. "What are you talking about, Victoria?" I forced myself to sound bored, all the while thanking Marcus for that training again and again. I owed him big for that.

She laughed again. "Oh, Bella, Bella, Bella. I hear revenge is sweet... What is that human saying? An eye for an eye? Well... I must say. A mate for a mate sounds good."

I snarled, losing it. "Victoria, what makes you think I won't let you kill him? He's a vegetarian." I sneered the word. My best chance was to make her think that I didn't care about him, that I was leading him on or something. While talking to her, I changed course, heading to the hotel. I couldn't take anyone to the Cullen's house, because then the Traitor would know where to find them. I had to protect Edward and Alice and all of them.

She snorted. "We'll see Bella. We'll be watching." A dial tone. I hung up shakily and Aaron put a hand on my shoulder.

"Bella?"

I shook my head. "You heard her, Aaron. I'm going back to the hotel. And I'll tell the Cullens the truth about how we can't be friends tomorrow."

A small voice in the back of my head whispered that Aaron could be the traitor. He's the only one who had been around long enough to rat out about everything. I thought back, trying to remember. Maybe he hadn't called Felix? I hadn't been listening, not even when he called Aro. I'd been in my own world. He could have called Victoria then. Or maybe more than one person was in on this. He could have called them and they could have called Victoria. All I knew was that I had to leave. Soon.

Or everyone I cared for was going to die.

**Dun, dun, DUN!! I hope you enjoyed this long chapter I worked up for you. I'm not sure when I'll next be able to update, because my life gets ludicrously busy after tomorrow. So, please, review and tell me who you think is betraying Bella!**


	16. Ch 16 Of Pressure,Manipulation,and Pain

**Huzzah! Chapter 16! Wow, it sure was long. A lot happens in this chapter: lies, manipulation, death, pain, capture. It's all there. I forewarn you all now - _someone dies in this chapter, and it was just something I had to do, and please don't kill me or you won't ever know what happens!_ That is all. Oh, and I thank all my reviewers, I really enjoy hearing from you! Don't expect all the chapters left to be this long, cause I doubt they will be. I am debating on how to end this story; should I give it a complete ending, or should there be a sequel? If there's a sequel, what happens? And so on, and so forth. I probably won't be able to update until the end of the week, or even the beginning of next week, because first I have to update Ignorance is Not Bliss, but I will do so as soon as I possibly can! I couldn't go to Warp Tour this weekend, cause my sister was in an accident with my nephew in the back seat (thankfully, they're both okay.) and the car was totaled, so I have to wait until AUGUST to go. -sniff- Is sad. But okay, cause I still get to go. So, please enjoy! Laughs and Hugs!!**

_**THERE IS A NEW ENDING, WHICH I THINK WORKS WAY BETTER. GO TO THE BOTTOM, RIGHT AFTER JASPER LEAVES THE CAFETERIA, AND YOU WILL FIND IT. SOME OF YOU POINTED OUT HOW UNREALISTIC AND FAULTY THE FIRST ONE WAS, AND I AGREED. I HAD BEEN UNABLE TO THINK OF A DIFFERENT ONE AT THE TIME, BUT RECENTLY, MULLING OVER THE SITUATION, I FOUND SOMETHING I PREFER. SO GO RE-READ IT!!**_

I was trembling when I pulled up at the school the next morning. Things kept going from bad to worse. Aaron and I had stayed in the hotel for the entire night, not leaving once, barely speaking. The tension in the air had thickened with each passing hour that Cate and Heidi didn't show up, and didn't answer their phones. We were thinking the worse. Obviously, Victoria was close enough to be able to watch personally. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said "we'll be watching", she would have said, "I'll know what's happening" or something like that. Aaron was pacing most of the night over worry for his cousin.

It was probable that they were no longer going to be around to help us.

Turning the engine off, I stayed put, staring ahead of me, as Aaron stepped out of the car. He came around and opened up my door for me, crouching down to my eye level and meeting my reluctant gaze.

"Bella… just… do what you have to. I don't care about anyone else here, human or not, all I care about is getting you out of this situation alive. Things can be fixed later, I need you to live through this first, though."

I looked at him solemnly and nodded. If I was dead, people would be hurt. If I hurt people first, then lived, at least I could come back to fix things. If I died, it'd be a little hard to make up.

As I stepped out of the car, I noticed Edward coming over from his Volvo. He must have been waiting for me. My stomach clenched, and my chest tightened; if my heart could still beat, it'd be racing. The thought crossed my mind - I couldn't do this. I couldn't purposefully leave Edward when I'd just gotten him. But, I also couldn't put him in danger and end up losing him forever, irreversibly. So the question was: which was harder to do?

He came up to me, and made to grab my hand, that drop-dead, knee-weakening, mind-fogging crooked grin in place. I sharply pulled my hand away from him, inwardly wincing as I did so and took in the confused expression on his face.

Aaron had a blank mask in place, and I knew his thoughts would be the same, of no use to Edward and his talent. He'd be sure to think of something irrelevant and illogical, so that Edward wouldn't know what I was doing and fight me against it. I was suddenly unbelievably grateful to Aaron, and smacked myself mentally for ever even considering him being the traitor. This thing was messing with my mind, and it needed to end now… I felt my determination resolve.

"Edward, I need to talk to you." I said, keeping the pain and sadness out of my tone. All he heard was a calm, coolly detached tone.

He nodded, and we stepped slightly away. Aaron started walking slowly away, but not too far, keeping an eye on me. He couldn't afford to let me out of his sight for long now, not after we knew Victoria was close, and Heidi and Cate were gone.

I took a deep breath. "Edward, yesterday was a mistake." I stated. A complete lie. But he didn't know that.

His face became expressionless, a hard mask. The usually warm gold of his eyes froze. He was angry, and hurt, I thought.

"It's just," I said, trying to emanate honesty and gentleness. I wasn't going to be cruel beyond the words I had to say. "It would never work between us. You're a… _vegetarian_, and I'm the Volturi's best killer. What did you honestly think we could have? I mean, it was nice, I suppose, but I-" I forced the words from my throat. "I can't be with you. Trust me when I say it's for the best. Why don't you give Tanya - wasn't that her name? - a try. She seemed interested." I added. Why should I drag him down? He could do so much better than _me._

"Nice?" he repeated. At my nod, his eyes narrowed. "And you can't be with me, why?"

I swallowed, fighting to keep the professional, cool, uninterested mask in place; it was getting difficult. I just wanted to fling my arms around Edward and tell him I was lying, and that he couldn't leave me now, when I was so scared for the first time since my change. But that would be disastrous. For all I knew, Victoria was watching me right now. That thought sprang me into action. I was going to have to take this one step further.

I rolled my eyes. "Edward, really, must you ask that? We can't be together, because I feel nothing for you like you feel for me. It was all a test, you see." I met his gaze with as much honesty and innocence as I could muster. "I wanted to see what I could do to the single veggie vamp in this stupid town. Did you really think I felt anything for you? Could you really be so slow?"

His hands clenched into fists. "Oh, really?" he said coolly.

I nodded, feeling my emotions began to break loose of the box I had shoved them in. Frantically - on the inside at least - I threw up all my former barriers. Every single one I had ever learned or tried. No one would get through to me now.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I'm sorry you took it so seriously. But please, trust me, it's better if you just left me alone, forgot about me." Another shrug. It was a safe nonverbal response. The verbal ones were getting difficult. "I'm leaving to go home soon, anyways."

When he spoke, his velvet, musical voice was strained and harsh, but still beautiful. "What was your original plan? To just leave without a word? Wouldn't that have proved your…_test_ a little more interesting?"

I tilted my head. "Yes." I stated. And it would have… if the test were a fabrication.

A small growl slipped past his lips. "Then why don't you pick up and take all your troubles away, Isabella? No one would really miss you. It'd be less of a strain on my family, especially Jasper, not to have to see your red eyes, and the temptation of the lifestyle you present. You'd be doing us all a favor."

I managed, just barely, not to flinch. I could hear the truth in every syllable he spoke.

The bell rang, students started heading to class, and without a further word, Edward was gone. As soon as he was out of sight, sound, and smell, I started towards my class. I could feel Aaron's gaze on me until I entered the door, and then I sat down. Mike, again, came ambling up towards me. But when he was still a few yards away, I looked up at him, expression blink. He froze, fear immobilizing him, and then scampered backwards so fast, he tripped over his own feet and fell on his ass.

I wondered what I looked like, though I could form a pretty good guess. I had just lost any reason to be happy. Edward wanted me gone anyways, I'd heard the truth when he'd spoken, and I'd known, ever since I'd realized how I felt for him, that he could never feel for me what I did for him. Not as deeply as I did. For him, it was merely something like an infatuation. While I, Isabella Swan, Volturi Guard, the Best of the Best, had fallen, head over heels, foolishly, life-alteringly, in love with Edward Cullen.

When Aaron joined me in our class, he sighed and shook his head.

"Cate still isn't answering her phone. Neither is Heidi. Aro is still locked away in his room, knocking anyone who disturbs him into and through a wall. Felix is trying every thing he can to get some people over here. He's purchasing plan tickets for us to leave on Thursday."

I nodded. I no longer cared, as long as I could kill Victoria for ruining my life. If it weren't for her and her revenge-filled mind, I would never have come to Forks, Washington, never have met the Cullens, never have fallen in love, would still be blissfully ignorant. Whoever said it was better to have loved and lost than to never loved at all, never fell in love with someone who they didn't deserve. Never had been in this situation. Needed to have a cat scan.

Lunch finally approached, not that I was looking forward to it. It had been unbearable to tell Edward to pretty much get lost, but to tell that to Alice? And Emmett? How could I hurt them like that? But it was for the best… Victoria could use them against me, too.

As we entered the cafeteria, I could feel the concerned looks Aaron kept casting me. He could probably see how close I was to breaking; my mask of indifference was breaking to pieces, and anyone trained by the Volturi to notice such subtle signals could see I was at my limit for stress. But I pretended not to notice, that everything was fine, and stepped into the lunch line. I kept thinking, maybe if I pretend, I can make myself believe; if I lie to myself long enough, it'll start to sound like the truth.

Aaron sighed and followed me, not saying anything, though I knew it took him a great effort to keep his opinions to himself. It was not his way to stay silent when others were upset. For him, it was more natural to goof off and cheer them up. But he and I both knew that I was far too upset for that.

Emmett stood up at the Cullen table, waving and grinning hugely, his dimples showing clearly even from this far. I forced myself to not look at him, to keep scanning the room past him. From my peripheral vision, I could see the hurt on his face as he returned to sitting. Alice was tensed, eyes huge in fear, and her lips practically vibrated with how fast she was whispering to the others at the table.

"Bella," Edward said, showing up out of thin air. That, or I was just too upset to really pay attention. Great, it was probably the last one. Aro would kill me, and bring me back to clean up the mess if he knew I was getting this sloppy over a boy and _emotions_. The Volturi had no emotions.

His hand closed over my arm, and I tensed against the electricity that ran through us at the touch.

"I apologize for my actions this morning, but it was for the best." There was an odd note to his voice, a frantic begging that I couldn't understand, though it was vaguely familiar. When I couldn't immediately place it, I dismissed it, placing the insane thought to my scrambled thoughts and emotions.

Aaron showed up, glaring and frightening in his fury. "Just leave her alone, dude. Haven't you insulted her enough?"

Edward glared right back. "I was only-"

Aaron cut him off. "Stop trying to act all self-righteous. You barely know her, so just leave her alone." He was trying to save me from loosing it in front of all these people. Everyone in the lunch room had stopped to watch us, and I knew, if I were human, I'd be blushing over so many stares and so much attention. I'd have to thank Aaron later for helping me out, giving me a chance to rein in my emotions. But it was getting freakishly difficult. At least Jasper and Alice couldn't use their powers against me anymore. It was a small relief, to the say the most.

"It's better if she just leaves here," Edward hissed, fury in his tone.

I flinched, not at what he had said, but at the reality of the truth of it. And, if I was being honest, I'd been holding out some pathetic hope that he would come to me and say everything was a mistake, a cruel, sick joke, and it was better if I stayed, that he wanted me to stay with him, not just for a while, but forever.

Why I chose to torment myself that way, I had no idea, but it didn't matter anymore. That hope, however small it had been, had just been dashed. He really truly did want me gone from here.

Suddenly, Edward's hand released my arm as he stumbled slightly backwards, Aaron looking murderous as he lowered his arms. I knew Aaron would literally rip him to pieces if he as pissed enough, so I decided to defuse the whole thing before the spark caught on fire.

"It's fine, Aaron. Edward's right. It's better if I just left." I don't know how I managed to choke out the words, but I did. I supposed it was Marcus's training still coming into effect. Aaron looked at me in surprise, his lips moving, but I couldn't hear anything; I wondered why, but I no longer could find the energy to care. Not anymore. I was going now, forget about plane tickets, Aro being absorbed in some online take-over. I was making my own rules.

And not for the first time, so it really shouldn't surprise anybody.

I turned and started out of the cafeteria. I heard Aaron shove Edward one more time, harder than before, and follow after me.

I was already stepping into the Arrow when Aaron caught up to me. He immediately got in on the passenger's side, not saying anything, just closing the door as I started the engine. Alice, and Emmett appeared from the direction of the cafeteria, upset and frantic looking. I met their gazes for a split second, then tore away. In the rearview mirror, I could see Jasper wrap his arms around Alice, who turned to bury her head into his chest. Then I forced myself to look away. I compulsively turned on the CD player, needing loud noise to distract me. I turned the volume up to blasting, and just in time; Aaron had opened his mouth to speak.

My Chemical Romance blared from the speakers, which was just my luck. I'm Not Okay began playing, and I inwardly groaned. I had a feeling I could place almost any song to my feelings right now, just because I was feeling so confused and upset.

I raced down the streets, towards Port Angeles, and the air port there. I'd barely even gotten a quarter of the way there, and the song was just finishing, when Aaron reached over and turned it off.

"Bella, what are you doing?"

"We're going to Port Angeles to get our things, and catch the next flight out. I don't care where it goes, we're just leaving. If I leave, Victoria will have to follow me or lose me. You're not going to call _anyone_ to tell them where we are. We're leaving all our electronics in the hotel, anything traceable, and we're going to disappear. And no one can predict where we're going, because the hell if I know." I said, all in one breath. I made to turn my music on again and drown out my thoughts, but Aaron whacked my hand away. I glared at him.

"Bella, I'm… sorry." he said. I knew what he was talking about.

"Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong. It's not your fault he didn't want me to stay in the first place. Besides, that worked out in our favor. If Victoria was listening, she'll think neither of us really cares about the other, and won't feel the need to use him against us."

Aaron shook his head, looking at me. "Bella-"

I glanced away from the window for a spilt second, then back and screamed.

"Shit!" I shouted, slamming on the breaks and spinning the wheel madly, trying to avoid the falling tree. My car just barely managed to avoid being demolished, and the next thing I know, Aaron was being yanked out from his side.

I was out of my door in half a second flat, but I still wasn't fast enough. Victoria ripped his head off, and my stomach roiled.

Everything froze, noise faded in and out, nothing seemed real, it was like a bad dream. Victoria, flaming red hair whipping in the wind of a on-coming storm, grinned viciously, and then light a match. I watched in horror as she dropped it, and side-stepped the purple pluming smoke.

I looked up from the remains of probably my best friend, and into her hate-filled dark red gaze.

"Bitch." I managed to whisper, my fury so strong it turned into a calm viciousness.

She grinned. "Oh, please, Bella. This is only the beginning. Why don't you come with me to see who else we have that you care about, huh?" I didn't move. "Come on, get it the car," she purred, gesturing. I haltingly did so. I had a sinking suspicion of who they could have, and none of the options were good. There would be no Volturi help, no one would know about this, and if anyone did, they were on her side.

Hell, I was in deep trouble.

EPOV

I was so happy as Alice dragged me to my Volvo, opened the door, and shoved me into the driver's seat. She got into the passenger side, and looked pointedly from my hand to the ignition.

"Edward, the key goes into the hole," she said slowly, like to a child.

I spared her a brief, half-hearted glare, and started the car, following Emmett out of Port Angeles. I watched Bella's car drive away in the rearview mirror as long as I could.

Alice sighed. "So, Edward." she started. I gave her a look that told her to get to the point. She grinned. "Are you in love with Bella?"

"Alice," I groaned. "We just got together today, and you're asking me if I'm in love?"

She shrugged. "I know you've liked her way longer than that."

I rolled my eyes heavenwards, like I would find some help up there. Nope, none. Like usual. A guy could always hope, though.

"So, are you?"

"Am I what?" I asked irritably.

She gave a huff of exasperation. "In love with Bella?"

I sighed, knowing this wasn't going to stop until I admitted something. "Yes, Alice, I think I might be. I think I may have been for a while. Happy now?"

She was squirming in her seat. "Yes." she answered simply. I groaned, and sped up to get to the house faster. She talked for a while about something or another, but I didn't listen to her, my thoughts were revolving around Bella. Her lips, her smooth mahogany hair, her delicious - if somewhat faded because of being a vampire - freesia smell. She washed her hair with strawberry shampoo, didn't wear any makeup, unless Alice had forced her into it, and I could never guess what she was going to do or say. She was like no one else I had ever met.

When we reached the house, I went straight up to my room, turning on some music to drown out my family's thoughts, and fell onto the couch, thinking some more about Bella.

A small smile graced my lips; just thinking about her name brought a smile to my lips. I didn't care if she'd killed a thousand people, she was only doing what she had to do. Though she never said it straight out, I had a feeling she'd been forced into joining the Volturi. It didn't take a genius to realize she hated it there, was unhappy with that life. She'd said that she wouldn't be allowed to leave, that Aro, Marcus, and Caius would never let her, but I wondered if there weren't at least some way for her to stay with us.

I hadn't realized how much time had passed, how absorbed I had been in my own thoughts of Bella, until Emmett threw a pillow at my face.

"Edward, school! It's in, like, twenty minutes."

I threw the pillow blindingly fast at him, which he ducked, laughing. It crashed into a picture on the wall, making Esme yell up at us to be careful. I took a quick shower and changed, not paying much attention to what I threw on, and then rushed down the stairs to my car. The sooner we got to school, the sooner I could see Bella again.

My siblings chuckled, whispered, but I ignored them. Rosalie rolled her eyes as Emmett whispered something and smacked him upside the head. All in all, it was just like any other morning, except that I was more eager than usual to get there, and see Bella.

None of Bella's cars were in the parking lot when we pulled up, so I leaned against the door and waited for her to show up. My family left, heading off to their respective classes. I would have Alice in one of my morning classes, and I was sure she'd want to hear everything about what was said. I smiled slightly. I was glad my family liked Bella, even Rosalie, always stand-offish and reluctant to trust, liked her. I figured it was more the fact that Bella was obviously very into her cars, too, and they had something in common that had led to their friendship in the first place, but I was willing to settle for anything.

I was listening for thoughts signaling that Bella was here, and watching the entrance for her, when I heard someone's thoughts call my name. Lifting my head, I looked around, but saw no one. I frowned.

_Hello, Edward. This is Victoria… don't move, pretend nothing is wrong or unusual. Isabella should be on her way here. I need you to do something for me. It's of the utmost importance to her survival. Do you understand?_

I swallowed the growl that was fighting to climb up my throat and instead gave a minuscule, almost imperceptible nod.

_Good. Now, when Isabella gets here, I need you to get her to leave. Do anything you can, short of telling her about me being here, to get her to leave, without anyone but Aaron. I suggest you tell her you want her gone, that should make her leave eventually. Upset her, or Aaron, enough, and she'll go. If she isn't gone by the end of lunch, I will personally go inside the school and kill each and every single person there. Be they human or vampire. Trust me, I have help. Do you understand me, Edward? _

Again, I nodded, anger boiling beneath the surface of my skin. I wanted to grab Bella myself and take her far away from here.

_There, now, see? I told them you would cooperate._ I could detect the smugness through her thoughts. I glared down at the ground in front of my feet, hating every second of the conversation. My morning had just taken a complete turn around.

_She's here now, Edward. Go on. Tell her you want her gone, forever._

I shoved myself away from the car, fighting over whether or not to do as Victoria said. But when I looked up and saw Bella's drawn, worried face, I forgot all about it. Bella needed me, and all I could think of doing was wrapping my arms around her and holding her close, comforting her.

I reached for her hand, but she pulled it sharply away. I blinked, surprised and confused not so much by her actions, but by the expression on her face, like she was arguing with herself over something. Victoria's thoughts were screaming in my head, but I ignored her. Aaron's thoughts were of no help to me for understanding Bella's actions. He was busy thinking of all the homework he still had to do in class before the actual class in which it was due. I tuned him out as well. He wasn't going to be of any help, intentionally or not.

"Edward, I need to talk to you." She sounded calm and detached, nothing like the message her eyes were sending. They seemed to be begging for understanding and forgiveness.

I nodded, stepping away slightly. Bella followed, her eyes flickering over to watch Aaron as he stepped some distance away, but still close enough to have a visual on her. He was taking his body guarding business more seriously than usual. I had a hunch I had missed something.

Bella took a deep breath, then spoke. "Edward, yesterday was a mistake."

_Mr. Cullen, if you do not do as was agreed, I will go to her class when you are not around and set it on fire. Try saving her from that. Now, make her leave!_

Anger returned to the surface; I had almost forgotten about Victoria's threats from just minutes ago.

"It's just," Bella said, her honesty and gentility overlapped by the barest hint of desperation. "It would never work between us. You're a… _vegetarian_, and I'm the Volturi's best killer. What did you honestly think we could have? I mean, it was nice, I suppose, but I-" Her voice caught imperceptibly. I doubted even she noticed as she continued. "I can't be with you. Trust me when I say it's for the best. Why don't you give Tanya - wasn't that her name? - a try. She seemed interested." He could tell she hated the idea, but meant it. She was looking down at the ground now, just briefly, and his heart hurt for her, for what he was going to have to do.

"Nice?" I asked. She nodded, and I asked what would seem like a logical question, though I was really just leading up to what I was going to have to say. "And you can't be with me, why?"

She seemed to waver, her body swaying ever so slightly forward, hands twitching. The only thing that stopped me from grabbing her was the fact that Victoria was watching. I continued to watch what looked like an internal debate in Bella's expressive eyes, which then hardened, and rolled up to the heavens.

"Edward, really, must you ask that? We can't be together, because I feel nothing for you like you feel for me. It was all a test, you see." She looked at me, honesty and innocence pouring from her eyes, the gold flecks from her first veggie meal still visible. I didn't believe the look in her eyes for one second. Not anymore. "I wanted to see what I could do to the single veggie vamp in this stupid town. Did you really think I felt anything for you? Could you really be so slow?"

Victoria's thoughts laughed at me in my head. _Looks like she's beating you to the punch Edward. Maybe I should just go after her now, since you won't be able to make her leave if she's already leaving you. It seems I don't need you after all. You can't do anything, so I'll just have to change my plans. That's alright, I prefer plan B._

"Oh, really?" I asked, not only answering Bella, but Victoria as well. I didn't realize for a moment that my hands had clenched into fists. If it weren't for Victoria, I would already have grabbed Bella and told her to cut the act, that I wasn't letting her go anywhere, not anymore.

She nodded, then shrugged; I could see the turmoil in the depths of her eyes, as she fought to keep in control of herself. "Yeah. I'm sorry you took it so seriously. But please, trust me, it's better if you just left me alone, forgot about me." Another shrug. "I'm leaving to go home soon, anyways." she added, and I felt a slight pierce in my heart because that much, at least, I knew was true.

_Oh, well, looks like you may have a chance to save her some time, Eddie. Or are you going to tell her what's really going on, maybe? I wouldn't recommend it. If you do, she won't live five minutes after it._

"What was your original plan? To just leave without a word? Wouldn't that have proved your…_test_ a little more interesting?" My voice was strained as I fought to keep a hold of my anger and not go chasing after Victoria.

Her head tilted. "Yes."

Victoria laughed again. _Come on, Eddie. Make her leave. She might live to see another day if you just do as I say. Who knows? Maybe I will let her live after all. It all depends on what you manage to accomplish. _

A small growl slipped up my throat. "Then why don't you pick up and take all your troubles away, Isabella? No one would really miss you. It'd be less of a strain on my family, especially Jasper, not to have to see your red eyes, and the temptation of the lifestyle you present. You'd be doing us all a favor." I forced the words out of my throat, past my lips, hating each and every sound I made. I wanted to tell her it was all a lie, none of it was true, but that would be more disastrous than hurting her like this. I cursed Victoria in every language and way I knew, as her thoughts laughed at me.

She flinched, just barely, and if I hadn't been watching so closely for her reaction, I wouldn't have noticed. She believed me. The pain in my chest flared.

The bell rang, and I quickly left, before I ruined everything by speaking to her. It would be pointless to tell her the truth, when she'd just end up getting hurt anyways.

The morning passed in a blur. I didn't say anything, glared at anyone who thought of approaching me or asking a question. When one of the teachers thought of calling on me to answer a question, thinking I wasn't paying any attention and hoping to embarrass me, I answered before he asked, startling the whole class. The only time I didn't go into class was for the one with Alice. Instead of going and facing my all-knowing sister, I went to hide out in my car, listening to my music loudly.

_Isabella has yet to leave, Mr. Cullen. Why is that? Maybe you don't care nearly as much as I was told. Remember, if she's not gone by the end of lunch, I will kill each and every person, human or not, in this establishment._

I gritted my teeth and glanced at the clock. Lunch had just started. I got out of my car, into the blasting wind, and hurried to the cafeteria. I looked around, searching for Bella's familiar mahogany hair, and spotted it just as Alice's thoughts screamed at me.

_Edward! No! Please, don't make her leave! I saw this weeks ago, she'll leave if you keep this up! Why do you want her to go, I thought you _loved _her! _

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head ever so slightly, hoping she'd understand eventually. I had no choice. Once Bella left, I would go after her. Never had I agreed not to do that; once she was gone from the school, I would catch up with her and explain everything.

I caught up to her, called her name, and grabbed her arm to stop her. She tensed as the electricity flowed between us, and I fought against pulling her into my chest and apologizing.

Alice's thoughts were still screaming at me, now joined by all the rest of my siblings', as I continued.

"I apologize for my actions this morning, but it was for the best." She had to understand that. It was better if she believed that single sentence, understood I didn't mean any of it, was just doing what I hoped was for the best. I hoped she'd one day be able to forgive me.

Aaron showed up, thoughts furious. I blocked out everyone's thoughts, not wanting to hear all the yelling directed at me. It was more difficult than one would think, and sometimes things would slip through.

"Just leave her alone, dude. Haven't you insulted her enough?"

I glared back at him, angry. "I was only-" I tried to say, but he cut me off, scoffing.

"Stop trying to act all self-righteous. You barely know her, so just leave her alone."

Everyone was watching, and I could see, behind Aaron, Bella trying to keep that mask of indifference up.

"It's better if she just leaves here," I hissed, trying to make him get it. I was furious with myself, with Victoria, with Aaron for not getting that I was only trying to protect her.

Bella flinched, which seemed to really piss Aaron off. He shoved me, and I let go of Bella's arm so not to yank her off balance.

"It's fine, Aaron. Edward's right. It's better if I just left." Bella's soft voice was barely audible, and it sounded like the words pained her to say. My dead heart twisted, and I swallowed down the words that I wanted to say, that would put everyone in more danger. All noise was muffled as I watched Bella walk out the cafeteria. I barely even noticed when Aaron shoved me again, knocking me a few feet backwards.

Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and Rosalie converged around me as the cafeteria burst into amazed, shocked, gossipy whispers.

"Why, Edward? What the hell is wrong with you?" Alice shook my shirt briefly, then turned and hurried out after Bella, Emmett right behind her, throwing glares over his shoulder. Jasper was watching me closely, a frown in place. Rosalie was hurrying after Emmett.

"Why'd you say it if you want her back, Edward?" Jasper asked. He could tell that I was hurting, missing her when she wasn't even really gone.

I couldn't answer him, and he just left quickly, probably to comfort Alice. I waited a moment more, then turned and quickly left the gossip-center that the cafeteria had become.

Outside, the wind gusted strongly, making the branches of the trees and the leaves clash together in an angry symphony. I took the slightly roundabout way to the parking lot, not wanting to be seen by my family and delayed by defending my actions. I waited as they started to head back to the cafeteria, then sped inhumanly fast to my Volvo, getting in and driving away. I listened intently for Aaron's thoughts, since they were the only thing that could lead me to Bella, so I could explain. I needed to explain, she had to understand.

I found his thoughts, and followed where they were coming from, keeping some distance between our cars, but staying close enough that I could reach them once they'd stopped. I really was only vaguely listening, so when his thoughts turned panicked, then abruptly cut off, I slammed on the brakes and listened more intently.

A growl slipped from my chest, up my throat, and past my lips. Victoria's thoughts were cruel, laughing at Bella, and the fate of Aaron. Another thought caught my attention. A familiar voice...

My eyes widened as I realized what she was planning, and I made to leave, but the car was already beyond my control. I tried the door, even going so far as to make to rip it off, but I couldn't even dent it. As the two stepped out of the trees, dark gray cloaks billowing and flapping sharply in the tearing wind, I snarled.

She grinned and waved cheerily, her eyes dark and vicious. I didn't recognize the guy next to her, but from previous thoughts, I had a pretty good guess of who he was.

The passenger and back doors opened before they'd even reached my car, and she slipped into the front while he took the back.

"Hello, Edward. How nice of you to show up. I figured you'd try to play hero and save Bella. Which is perfect, since I promised Victoria her little revenge." Cate's voice turned mocking when she spoke of Victoria; it was obvious she thought very little of the woman. "Have you met Felix? My mate? He's the one who told Vicky and me about how close you and Bella were getting. Aaron," disgust and annoyance filled her tone as she said his name, but then it turned amused, "told him about it. Of course, my fool of a cousin didn't even think about the fact that Felix was the only one available. He's been getting information for us while we weren't here."

I rolled my eyes. A part of me was angry with her, not able to see the reason for her hate of Bella because she wasn't thinking about it. But a larger part of me was angry for not seeing it before. I wondered how Jasper hadn't picked up on her hate, and decided it was for the same reason I hadn't. She never had been focusing on it, had been hiding her true feelings behind others. I had been stupid.

"Come on, Eddie. Stop moping. You're going to see Bells again soon enough." The car started without my touching a thing, and then headed in the direction Victoria's thoughts were also heading. "They'll take the long way, so we can prepare for Bella's little surprise party."

I was unable to move my arms, and vaguely I remembered Bella explaining to me back when we'd snuck to Port Angeles to get her cars that she'd mentioned how Cate could manipulate matter. I fought to gain control of my limbs, but to no avail. Cate laughed.

"Stop fighting it, Eddie. After years in the Volturi, I have mastered my gifts to near perfection. You can fight it off, and unless I let you, you can't even twitch of your own free will. So just relax. We're not going to bite... Yet."

**So, there's the NEW ending of chappie 16. Hope you like it better; I do! ;D Please review, it encourages me to update faster! And, if you don't mind, my other story Ignorance is Not Bliss, would appreciate some more love. It has a bunch of hits, and barely any reviews. So if you wouldn't mind sparing a few minutes, please go read and let me know what you think! (But review here first... cause Dusk is almost over.) Laughs and hugs, all! **


	17. Ch 17 Cabin

**I know this is one: a bit shorter than the last couple chapters, and two: very late, but let me explain. I did mention the rest of the chapters probably won't be as long as the previous few. Also, I have started my five hour Chem class on Monday, and let me tell you... it takes up a lot of time when you add in studying and homework, and travel time to get to the class and back home. So, sorry for the long wait, but you're probably going to experience another when it comes to this story. **

**Also, I'm sorry for killing off Aaron last chapter, it was sad - and afterwards I went on a two-day-long guilt trip about it - but it was Cate's fault! She made me! lol. Annoying voices in my head...**

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please review, I love hearing from you all. Laughs and Hugs!**

I was grinding my teeth, probably to dust, the entire time Victoria was telling me where to turn, where to go, even trying to make me go the speed she wanted. A small smirk played around the edges of my mouth at the thought; apparently, our little revenge-bent psycho had a problem with speed she wasn't controlling. As a small petty way of getting her back for killing Aaron - not that more wasn't coming her way… she was going to die the most painful death I could think up for _that_ - I had sped up as much as I could and drifted around the corner. Her high-pitched, shrill screams had been satisfying enough that I slowed down (didn't want to hurt my car, did I?) and returned to a more respectable speed.

I had a semi-good idea of who the Traitor was; the one person besides Aaron that could have possibly known about my being with Edward. Oh, and besides Alice. But I would gladly kill myself if she turned out to be it; that's how confident I was that she wasn't. Thinking of Alice and her future-seeing abilities… I let down my walls, praying that something would come to her and I'd have back-up.

"A left up ahead." Victoria commanded. It was dark, the road deserted, my headlights the only thing to light up the back road, revealing snow and pine trees on each side. If I were to make a guess, we were somewhere to the north-east and in Canada. I did as the vicious red-head said, and turned calmly. After another ten minutes on the even smaller, dirt road, an abandoned cabin came into view. I parked without her having to tell me to and stepped out. Victoria was immediately there to grab me tightly in her grasp, shoving me forward towards the door. I noticed from my peripheral vision a flash of silver, but before I could turn my head to get a better glance, I was shoved inside. I half-turned in her grip, pulling my lips back from my teeth, and softly and warningly hissed. She was already in boiling water and shouldn't make things worse for herself.

The bare, wood walls were dimly lit by a yellow glow. Two vague blurry shadows were cast against the wall I could see from the hall. One of them moved around, while the other, short, blockier one stayed perfectly still. Abruptly, a familiar, tantalizing scent rushed up my nostrils, filling my senses. A small part of my mind was dazed, another screaming with vicious anger, and a third part was already working on what I was going to do to get us both out of here.

Victoria stopped us at the edge of the doorway, just inside the empty room. Felix looked up and grinned, his dark red eyes wickedly triumphant.

"Hello, Bella."

I inclined my head. "Felix. I see you've met Edward." I can practically feel the hating anger flowing off of Edward, even without Jasper's power. Anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together should be able to sense just how ticked he is. Which says a lot about present company, doesn't it?

Felix grinned, looking entirely like the predator he was, a hungry panther who had caught the unsuspecting prey. "Oh, yes, he happened to give us a ride here from just outside of Forks."

I tilted my head. "I'm assuming you two threatened him into that little speech earlier?" Though I still thought that what he had said was true, I wasn't dumb. If Felix and Victoria had been close enough to nab me on the road, they had to have been watching me, close enough for Edward to hear their thoughts. And the only way to keep Edward quiet about that, I knew, was manipulation. Maybe I was setting myself up for pain again, but I wanted to believe that Edward had only said what he said to protect me. However misguided his attempt had been.

Felix grinned. "Getting slow, Isabella?"

I grimaced. "You try living in a little green town, on constant high alert, learning boring human facts that you already know. Then tell me if your brain is a quick as usual."

He laughed evilly, reminding me of a snake. His eyes were narrowed into wicked slits of amusement. I rolled my eyes at him; he was enjoying my cornered status. Bastard. Once I got out of this, he was history, of the ancient kind. I didn't care what Aro would want to do to him as an example to others not to betray him, I was going to kill him first.

"Let's cut the crap, alright?" I asked, annoyed and impatient. "What the hell do you want, Felix? There has to be a reason you betrayed us to Victoria."

He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Bella, Bella, Bella. There's only one reason I would risk Aro's wrath." He looked up at me, smirking. I felt chills of unease dance down my spine. "Cate asked me to."

As if on cue, Cate danced from a side room, her dark blond curls flowing behind her, gray cloak floating around her feet. I glared.

"_You_!" I hissed, unable to think of something vulgar enough to describe her. "How dare you?! I trusted you! She killed your cousin!" I added, shouting.

Cate smirked. "Well of course she did, I asked her to. It was part of our deal."

I growled, furious, yet a distant part of me was shell-shocked. She'd given the death order on her own cousin? Something tugged at the back of my mind, something Heidi had said once, when I first showed up…. Thinking of Heidi.

"Was Heidi in on this too?" I growled.

Cate barked out a short laugh. "Heidi?" She snorted and rolled her eyes. "No, but she met an unfortunate… accident. You see, she was too close to figuring it all out, so I had to make sure no one knew. It's what she gets for prying."

I rolled my eyes. "Figures." The one other Volturi person who could help me, and they end up getting themselves killed. Another thought occurred to me, and to keep Cate talking, I spoke up. I needed time to think of a plan. "So, why is it that when Victoria called me, her number was Jane's? The Little Devil in on this too?" I wouldn't put it past her.

Cate laughed, the sound harsh to my ears. "Jane?" she scoffed. "That brat couldn't plan something this ingenious if someone put the plans for it under her nose. Felix snatched her cell and gave it to Vicky, to throw heat off of us. When Aro sends someone to investigate your tragic demise, everything will be traced back to her, and by bye another pain in my ass."

I sighed. "What did I ever do to you?" I asked with feigned morose and sadness, channeling Eyeore thoughts.

Cate's red eyes narrowed dangerously, a spark of something terrifying in them. "Don't act like you don't know, Isabella. It's your fault!"

I jerked, completely off-guard. "What is?" I asked.

"Stop pretending!" she shrieked.

"Who's pretending?" I asked, looking around in amazement. "I honestly have-"

Cate took three quick steps over to the chair Edward was sitting in - untied, which meant she was holding him in place herself - and grabbed a handful of those messy bronze locks, jerking his head to an angle I recognized all too easily. I shut my mouth with a snap.

"If you don't do as I say, Isabella, Eddie here just might loose his head."

I glared at her, but didn't open my mouth. She might use it as an excuse to rip his head off anyways. Edward's eyes widened slightly, and I figured he'd just heard from someone that he was currently in a very precarious position; just a simple tug, and he was a goner.

I met Cate's fierce red eyes, slightly maddened looking. "What do you want?"

She smirked. "I thought so. Bella finally has a weakness. I knew it the moment that you became distressed that day in the cafeteria, when we first arrived. Then Felix called me the other day to tell me Aaron told him you were in love with the _veggie_," she said it like a curse, "And I knew exactly how to make everyone happy." She paused. "Well, except maybe you."

I rolled my eyes. "Just get to the point, Cate." I snapped. "What. Do. You. Want."

A slow smirk weaseled onto her face. "Just a few favors before I ruin your life."

"How generous," I muttered. Louder, I said, "What do I have to do?"

Victoria let me go, sauntering over to where Edward sat, immobile. I didn't dare moved, simply because Cate could do something with that stupid, annoying power of her's without even touching him, really. Distractingly, Victoria ran a long fingernail down from Edward's temple, across his cheek, following the line of his jaw.

"So delicious…" she murmured. "Mate for a mate, Isabella, but I'm thinking maybe this one can be swayed," Her nail ran down the side of his neck, then dug in where his pulse would be if he were still human, getting deep enough to draw sluggish blood from his last feed. I snarled, and she looked up. "Maybe this one would like to join us."

Though Edward was not in a position to speak, I could tell from the spitting hatred in his eyes that he would never agree. Though… if he did, it might just save his life. I met his gaze as this thought crossed my mind, but I don't know what he saw there. Whatever is was, his eyes tightened slightly. I knew what he was saying… _no_. I huffed quietly.

"Cate?" I growled.

She grinned, laughing softly. "Fine, fine. I need you to kill someone for me. A little dish of revenge, you might say. Kill the man who made me, and bring me proof of his death, and I will let you know what comes after that. His name is Stephan. As of now, he is somewhere in southern Oregon with a young man you might be familiar with. A certain Miguel?"

I slowly nodded. Miguel had been a newborn under the control of a psychotic aged vampire, who had for some reason thought the only way to be killed was to start the Dark Ages again, with the Hunts. Miguel hadn't done anything, as of the time I arrived, so I gave him a choice. He could go free, and live in such a way as to not draw attention to himself, or, if he ever did a single thing to attract the Volturi's attention, he could suffer my wrath. I suppose I felt a sort of kinship with him, because of the similarities of our change. Peter had planned on making a vampire army to bring back to the south for a victory against someone or another. Anyway, Miguel had quickly agreed to live under the radar, and I hadn't heard about him since.

"I don't care what you do with the boy, he could live, die, or get eaten alive for all I care. Just make sure Stephan dies."

I nodded shortly, refusing to look at Edward. This kind of thing, death sentences to be carried out, were nothing new to me. It was familiar ground, soothing in the normalcy almost, and would give me time to think of a plan.

Cate smirked. "You can go after we clean out all your electronic devices, so you can't reach anybody. And Bella," she added as Victoria and Felix left to go search my car and she stepped over, hand out. I handed her my cell phone, glaring. "If anyone but you comes back with you, or anyone arrives here before you do, I'll make kill either them, or your precious Eddie. So it's your choice."

I pulled my lips back from my teeth, snarling softly. She just smirked slightly, the crazed light fading slowly from her eyes, and stepped back over to Edward, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Her voice was contemplative as she spoke. "Vicky calls you the Volturi's little show monkey. I suppose that's an accurate description for you… you're the way they show off their power, their easy command of our race, and you never question what they tell you to do." Her eyes turned far away, a faint trace of the insanity sparking to life again. "I used to be like you… adored, good, never asking questions. But when I began to think for myself, they demoted me." Fire blazed forth in her red eyes, which slowly bled to black, as they locked on me, the insanity back in full force. "And then _you_ replaced me!"

Victoria and Felix came back in, going to stand on either side of Cate, just behind her and Edward. I purposefully met each of the three's gaze with a glare that promised pain, then met Edward's. I hoped he could see the promise to save him in them. Before I did something rash - like try to kill Cate, allowing her a chance to rip off Edward's head, which would leave the opportunity for one of the others to light him up - I turned and ran out to my car. So. Southern Oregon it was.

**EPOV**

I had listened as Bella, Cate, and Felix spoke, noting the ways they glared with hate at her. Their minds were full of jealous thoughts. Victoria was only bent on revenge, not caring why these two were helping her, as long as she got her revenge. Mate for a mate. That thought kept dancing through her head, though now she was contemplating the likelihood of convincing me to join her. I never would, though I had been able to tell what Bella was thinking when it was mentioned. She had wanted me to take the offer, if only for a while, so that I would be able to escape. But I would never leave her here alone.

Cate's thoughts were worrying me. There was a haze of frenzy over them, like she was close to loosing any sanity she had. Every once in a while, it would spark to life in her eyes, through what she said, but the other two of my captors didn't seem to notice. And no one, not even Bella when she'd been here, had seemed to notice that every time Cate came closer to loosing it, her hold of control over my body seemed to lessen. And bit by bit, it never came back to full force. If she lost it completely, I might be able to regain control over myself. And then I could help Bella. I'd never wanted to kill anyone as badly as I wanted to kill all three of these lousy excuses for living beings. Either way, I knew they wouldn't be contaminating air for much longer by breathing. I was confident Bella would figure something out; we were both going to make it out of here alive, and I was going to beg her forgiveness. Though I felt that she knew I hadn't meant any of what I said, I also suspected she still thought it all the truth. Ridiculous, honestly, when nothing would make my family more happy than for her to stay with us.

I kept listening to the thoughts around me, hoping to find something to use to my advantage. The only lead I might have was Victoria's interest in hurting Bella by making me join her… by breaking Bella's already fragile heart. A small, dangerous plan took seed in my mind, and I mulled it over. There was a chance it would end up damaging any chance I had of getting back with Bella, but it might just make the difference of us both getting out of here alive….

**APOV**

I sat, fidgety, on the love seat in our living room, waiting for something about my brother or Bella to come up that would help me. All I could see of Edward was him in a dimly lit, bare cabin room. And of Bella, in a car driving somewhere, but I couldn't see any road signs. She had to be in the middle of nowhere! At least I could see her now. Before I had only seen that horrible blank white when I searched for anything pertaining to her; she had been blocking me again. Abruptly, though, it had lifted to show her in the same room as Edward, agreeing to something Cate had said.

I squirmed again, uncomfortable. I felt somewhat responsible for not figuring out Cate was betraying Bella sooner. If only I had listened to Jasper when he told me all those weeks ago about the odd vibe he'd briefly gotten from Cate, and odd mix of 'hate and insanity', as he'd called it. But when it hadn't happened again for the rest of that week, I'd told him it must have been something else, or not related to the situation at all. Teach me never to doubt what Jasper thought again.

Speak of the devil…. Jasper's arms wrapped tightly around me, and soothing waves crashed over me. I welcomed them, sinking deeply into the serenity he was lending me, grateful for a temporary escape from the cocktail of guilt, worry, and fear I had worked up.

His lips pressed gently to the side of my face. "Alice, relax. It'll work out fine… both Bella and Edward have talents on their side. Besides, Bella is Volturi. She can handle herself; you don't get to be the best without managing to have a few tricks up your sleeve. And Cate's half-mad. She won't be thinking clearly."

"That's part of the problem," I muttered. "She might take a stupid chance she wouldn't if she were sane. And it's keeping me from seeing what she's planning, since she keeps thinking of something else and bouncing between ideas." I sighed, then froze as a vision swam over my vision.

_Edward smirked evilly down at Bella, who was shaking and bloody. "I've thought about it a long time, Bella. Victoria is right. She reminded me of what it was like to hunt humans, of the taste. And I've been thinking about it since you came along. It's sort of hard not to when you see blood-red eyes all the time. I hunted before, and with Victoria, it should be easier. She should know all the hunting grounds where the best blood is located. It's not like I haven't left me family before to kill innocent humans for their blood before, is it?"_

_She smiled slightly, sadly. "No, it's not." she softly said. Victoria appeared behind Edward, leaning down to kiss his cheek fondly. _

_"You know, Isabella, I may have lost James, but I think you've provided me with something infinitely better."_

The vision faded and I gasped, horrified. Was Edward really planning on leaving Bella alone there, just to taste human blood again and save his own life? I refused to believe it. Refused!

"What did you see, Alice?" Jasper murmured coaxingly, sending more waves of calm at me, probably sensing my distress and anger.

I quickly told him about the vision, noting from the corners of my eyes as the rest of the family came down to listen.

"He wouldn't do that. He loves her." Emmett said with the matter-of-fact assurance of someone confident in their knowledge.

"Yeah, but he did say he wanted her to leave," Rose added softly.

Carlisle shook his head. "I still believe that he was in some odd way protecting her. Why else would he have left to go after her when she did as he asked?"

A small silence took place for a minute or two, then Esme spoke. "Still no clue as to where they are?"

I shook my head sadly. "Nothing."

Jasper was frowning slightly. "Something that he said in the vision… it's off."

Carlisle frowned too. "Repeat what he said, Alice."

I told them again, and when I reached the end of Edward's little speech, my father's face lit up.

"But that's just it! Edward hasn't killed innocents before! Not when he left the family! He only killed those he thought were deserving of death. I told him he couldn't play God, but he wanted to try things his way, and who was I to stop him? He had to learn things on his own."

"So…" I said slowly, "If he's told Bella about his rebellious stage…"

"Then she'll know he's got a plan." Jasper finished for me, nodding. "Smart. Clever. None of them will notice the hint, because none of them know, except maybe Bella."

I smiled. "So maybe there's hope yet."

**There you go - the 17th chapter. There are only a few left, and there's a poll on my profile about whether or not I should have a sequel so please go vote if you read! It'll only take a second, a minute if you leave a review first! Again, thanks! Laughs and hugs!!**


	18. Ch 18 Informant

**Huzzah! I have an awesomtasmic idea for the ending of this story, and it means that there is a ninety-nine percent chance for a sequel… but still, go vote on my profile, cause if no one really wants one, I will change the ending up a bit for that. Your vote matters, and all that jazz.**

**Anyways, I actually had one of my reviewers PM me asking for an update, and though I'm SUPPOSED to update Ignorance before Dusk… I just can't wait after finding out what I'm going to do with this fabulous fanfic! You can thank flowers, aka, General Panda, aka MY MUSE and BEST FRIEND Mouagoleah Her. So, don't forget to thank her in your reviews for the next couple chappies, cause they wouldn't be here - no really… I was stuck - without her! She'd love to hear some love! Lol… sorry. I had a bunch of sugar today, and I can't stop laughing at everything.**

**OH!! Have you all heard the Breaking Dawn quote of the day? I'll put it here, cause I just feel like it. XD **

**(NOT MINE!! Sadly… though if I ask the voices in my head, they say it is….)**

**Alice: "I'll play you for it. Rock, paper, scissors."**

**Edward: "Why don't you just tell me who wins."**

**Alice: "I do. Excellent."**

**TA-DA!! Wonderful! Now… what are they playing for? Hmm…. Maybe a car? Or a shopping trip like thing?? Who knows… it's Alice. Anyways! Please read ahead, and I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to drop by at the end and LEAVE A REVIEW!! (wow… that was long.)**

**Also! As I was typing this, ANOTHER ONE appeared! And I love it!**

**Bella: "Oh, Mike! How will I go on?" **

**(That one, I am SO using… in Ignorance. ;D)**

I drove down the silent, and darkening streets towards southern Oregon. My music blared loudly in the car, as I attempted to drown out the cacophony of dark, angry thoughts swirling in my head like a blender on full speed, but it didn't seem to really be working. At all.

How was I supposed to find this Stephan guy, in the first place? Cate was right that I was good… but I wasn't a miracle worker, and definitely not a tracker like Demetri. I couldn't just drive around all of southern Oregon and hope to bump into them… Edward's life was at stake here. I growled in frustration, turned down my music, and yanked the car over to the side of the road. I thrust open the car door, slammed it shut so that the car shook, and stormed into the woods on the roadside, heading deeper and deeper.

I was stressed… and needed to take my mind off of everything, if only for a while. I needed to work off this angry energy, so that I could do what I needed to do without hindrance. A breeze brought the faint scent of elk to me from the east, and I tilted my head in consideration. A hunt would help me loosen up, as well as clear my head a bit. I hadn't fed, anyways, for almost two weeks now, and who knew how many people I'd have to encounter before I found my target. I took off at a fast run, heading for where the breeze had carried their smell. They were gathered in a small clearing, some sleeping, others just seeming to stand around, and I launched myself at one of the older sleeping forms without a moment's hesitation. The rest of the herd balked, scattering into the shadows between the trees. The one under my grip thrashed and bucked, trying to get free, but I just reached up and snapped its neck. Eyes glassing over, he fell to the ground, legs tangled, and I bent my head down to drink deeply. When I'd drained him, I pulled away and wiped the back of my hand across my mouth, though there wasn't really any blood lingering there. It was a movement more out of habit; a nervous one I'd picked up when I'd first been in the Volturi.

Rising, I stretched up on my toes, stretching my arms high above my head and dropping back my head, sighing deeply. The feed had been somewhat relaxing; at least I wasn't full of pent-up energy. The poor elk had taken the edge off of my fury, but at least I wasn't going to go around and kill some unsuspecting human. Quickly, I disposed of the body, managing to dissipate some more of my anger, and then ran back to my car. I could feel the anger creeping up on me again the closer I got to the road, but I fought it back, instead trying to focus on what to do from here.

Okay… so I would just have to work on hearsay. There were points in every major city that held Volturi informants, and they knew all about the comings and goings of out-of-towners, specifically ones who avoided sunlight and were beautiful and pale. One vampire was appointed for each major city, sometimes two if they were close, and reported in to the Volturi every month. They had a loyal group of human followers who were sometimes turned if they proved promising… but usually, they were killed once their usefulness had run dry. If any one would know about where I could find Stephan, it would be the Informant in Medford. I ran through the mental check list I had of informants, trying to remember who was in Medford…. I managed to draw up a face before I reached a name. Tall, dark hair, even darker demeanor; Parker. I grimaced slightly, but pressed my foot firmly down on the accelerator, planning out my route in my mind. I could continue taking 97 down to Washington, and almost through it until I reached 82. From there, I could connect to 84 to get to 5... And that would cut straight through Medford. If I picked up the speed, I could be there by the middle of the night.

I flattened my foot on the pedal.

E&B…E&B…E&B…

I slowed as I turned right onto east Main street, stopping not a half minute later for a red light. My fingers drummed impatiently on the steering wheel, as thoughts of what Victoria, Cate, and Felix might be doing to Edward in that stupid little cabin up outside of Winfield in British Columbia.

Smoothly and quickly, I pulled into the small space that another car on the other side of the road was making for, making them glare and flip me off out their window. I stepped out, making the man's eyes widen and mouth fall open. I smirked at him, then turned and confidently headed to the front of the line.

Before I'd reached Medford, I had stopped in Portland, called one of the clothing stores that Alice had been telling me about, and had them open for me despite the late hour. The favors you could get with unlimited money, especially when the money wasn't your own. After grabbing some clubbing clothes, I had changed into them, paid, and quickly left. Let's say she wasn't going to have to worry financially for a couple months.

I flashed a bright, alluring smile at the bouncer, tilting my head flirtatiously. His eyes glazed over as I dazzled him - though I wasn't nearly as good at dazzling people as Edward was - and then he held open the velvet rope, letting me through. Much to the annoyance of those in line. I entered the club, pausing in the doorway to let my eyes adjust to the dark, bright strobe lights, and sporadic bursts of colored spotlights sweeping the crowded dance floor, then weaved through the dancers towards the bar. I seated myself on a high stool, crossing my legs and surreptitiously searched the shadowed booths of the club. The bartender came over and, after giving me an intrigued once over, asked me what I wanted.

I leaned an elbow on the bar, my hand cupping my jaw, and smiled at him, leaning forward just so.

"Actually, I wonder if you could help me."

He smiled in a friendly way and set the glass he was holding down in front of him, revealing a wedding band; I relaxed, if he was married, he wasn't planning on hitting on me. It was a small relief, but a relief none the less.

"I'm looking for someone… maybe you know of him? He usually hangs out around here. Parker?"

The bartender frowned, thinking. "Tall guy, really pale, with dark hair? Usually has a pessimistic view, and dark humor?"

I grinned. "That's the one."

A small frown and worry touched his eyes. "Yeah, I know who you're talking about, Honey. Are you sure you want to…?"

I offered a slight, dry smile. "He's a cousin. On top of being a pain in the neck."

He laughed. "Yeah, sweet, he's usually in here about now. Check in the VIP rooms… here, I'll call up there and tell them you're coming."

I hopped down, thanking him, and quickly sauntered to the VIP rooms. A couple people tried to stop me, offering to buy me a drink or asking for a dance, but I politely extracted myself. When I neared the door, the man standing there looked me up and down. I twisted a strand of hair around my finger - it never hurt to flirt with them to get my way, just in case - and smiled slowly. "I'm looking for Parker? The bartender sent me here."

The guy didn't even crack a smile, just folded his arms across his chest. I sighed, giving up one mode of persuasion for another. I stepped up close to him, and pinned him easily against the door he was guarding. Surprise and panic flashed through his dark eyes. "Listen, buster, I'm just going to ask you _once_, and I expect your answer to be right the first time. Can I come in?"

He swallowed, but didn't open his mouth to answer. I waited a moment more, then slammed him, gently, against the door, tightening my grip until I knew he was bruised. "What?" I whispered dangerously.

He paled, then nodded. I smiled happily and innocently, then set him down, straightening and bushing imaginary dust off of my hip jean jacket.

"Thanks." I flashed him a smile, and walked through the open door. I quickly scanned the room, then headed straight for the farthest corner. Parker watched me as I came, making no move to get up. I sat down across from him, leaning back and crossing my legs. The key to dealing with most informants was confidence, to make sure they knew you were in charge. Most Informants tended to think they were above us Guard members, because we came to them for information on the where. Like they could go against three or more vampires under a live or die situation. But whoever was more important didn't matter… getting back to Edward did.

"Isabella." Parker said. He knew that I hated my full name, and used that to put me on edge. I ignored the urge to grimace and instead raised a brow slowly, letting a smirk lift my lips slightly.

"Parker." I inclined my head in polite acknowledgment.

He leaned back in his chair, letting his eyes wander the room, his fingers steepled in front of him. I followed suit, casting a slow glance of boredom around the room. A few long moments of silence persisted between us.

"I take it you have a reason for being here?" he murmured. "Or did you just miss me?"

I smirked slightly. Though he was arrogant, pessimistic most times, and often of the notion that he was better than almost everyone else, Parker was an interesting character, and I liked him. "You caught me," I spoke softly. "I felt I couldn't live without you any longer."

A near-silent snort of amusement and half-smirk was his answer. After a few more minutes, he turned to face me, assessing me in a business-like, yet friendly, manner. "Okay, Bells. What can I do for you?"

I smiled freely, now, knowing I had passed his assessment of whether of not Aro had corrupted me yet. "I'm looking for somebody, and I heard they're in the general area."

He raised a brow in amused disbelief. "General?"

I sheepishly grinned. "Well, alright, southern Oregon, general."

He dragged a hand through his dark thick hair. "Who?"

"Stephan. Last I heard, was traveling with Miguel."

Parker let out a bark of laughter. "Why you waste all your good luck for that bastard Aro, I'll never know." He sighed. "Yeah, I know where they are. Down in Ashland, just earlier tonight. Should still be there, if my information is correct."

"Ashland," I repeated to myself. It was about an hour away, but that was if one drove the normal speed. Me and normal speed hadn't been on speaking terms since I became almost-indestructible.

I rose, as did Parker, and quickly embraced him before he could stop me. With a put-upon sigh, he hugged me back, then gently pushed me away.

"What did the guy do, if it's not confidential." Parker asked me. "He seemed clean when we checked him out."

I sighed. "Yeah. He is clean. Let's just say I'm currently working for a new psychopath, who - if I have my way - won't live after this is done."

Parker frowned, but I left the room before he could interrogate me further. One thing to be said about Informants, they were super perceptive, and even if I didn't tell him Cate had be backed into a corner, he would figure it out, probably along with the fact that I know had seven weaknesses. One of them more so than the others.

I exited the club, pausing only to give the bartender a friendly thanks again, and had to force myself with great difficulty not to go faster than human speed to my car. I fidgeted impatiently at each stoplight or stop sign, resisting the urge to just blow through them all, and finally raced onto 5 again, heading slightly south and east towards Ashland.

JPOV (Jane, for those who can't figure it out. ;))

I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the wall, smirking as Alec crashed through the wall, making a new hole. He picked himself up and climbed out, shaking plaster and brick from his hair.

"I take it he didn't like being disturbed?" I asked, smirking. Alec shot me an annoyed look.

"Shut up. Nobody likes you." he muttered, grouchy after being tossed through a wall.

I rolled my eyes and shrugged off of the wall. "That's fine... I don't like anybody else, either."

He laughed shortly, but quietly not to upset Aro, who seemed to think he was going to take over some website or another online. His Online Takeover, we were calling it. "Liar. You're just grouchy cause you lost your phone."

I snapped a glare at him, and he winced slightly. "I didn't lose it, someone stole it."

"Sure, whatever you say." he muttered, rubbing his head gingerly. My glare slipped slightly; I hadn't meant to hurt him. Sometimes, when I lost my temper, I unintentionally hurt people. Well, except Bella... who I may or may not hate.

"Sorry," I muttered. He grinned, letting me know he forgave me, and motioned towards the door Aro was locked behind. "Want to give it a try?"

I snorted. "Thanks, but no thanks. How about we send Felix."

June, one of the newborns Caius and Marcus had changed shortly after Bella was shipped away for safety, because she and some guy had shown possible potential. Her bright red eyes, narrowed slightly in confusion, and her head tilted. "You mean the guy with short hair, big, really freaky?"

Alec laughed at her description, while I simply nodded.

She frowned again. "Didn't he leave? Said something about business in Washington, or something..."

I froze and Alec shut up, straightening.

"There is no business in Washington, or if there was, Bella'd be assigned it." I said.

Alec frowned. "So why'd he go?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know."

June frowned again. "Bella? But... isn't that who he's supposed to take care of?"

Alec's eyes widened. "Jane... what if...?"

"He's the traitor Bella kept insisting there was?"

He nodded, eyes worried. I slowly grinned.

"Grab Demetri. I'll go talk to the Boss." I jerked my head towards the door, my grin widening. "I think he might come out for this."

**Okay. I know it's short, but I still want to see the results for my poll. The next chapter will probably be short, also, and then there should be only one left. Maybe two... so, altogether, only two or three chapters left here! Please drop by and review, let me know what you think!!**


	19. Ch 19 Death and Decisions

**Here it is! Chapter 19 for all you lovely readers and reviewers! It seems that most of you are all great with there being a sequel, so that's great. I know this isn't as long as you are all hoping for, but it's the best I could do with my Dad and Mom harping on my about my over-long amount of time on the computer (like to see them keep up with everything here on fanfiction! Ha!) Anyhoodles, I hope you all enjoy, and the next chapter should be the last. REVIEW please! **

Ashland was practically deserted, as if even the humans who thrived in the dark of night knew tonight was not safe even for them. The dark alleys and dim streets held not a soul that I could see, smell, or hear; but the two I was looking for wouldn't have much for me to find them by.

I slunk around the corner of another alley, listening intently for even the slightest noise. Then I huffed angrily. Where were they? Ashland wasn't too big, but it wasn't small, either. (Was any place small compared to Forks?)

I propped my hands on my hips, frowning faintly. So. How to get Miguel and Stephan to come out form wherever they were in this place?

"Hey!" I called out, only slightly more than a yell. "Miguel!"

I leaned against the brick wall and waited to see if he'd show up. Likely enough, he would come just to see who was calling for him, but wouldn't suspect much if he saw me. Well… at least, once I said he wasn't in trouble, he wouldn't.

About five minutes later, two figures detached themselves from shadows at the far end of the street. I smirked at my luck - Parker was right, I needed to stop wasting it for these stupid things - and shrugged off the wall, heading to meet them halfway down the block.

"Bella?" asked Miguel, a half-smile on his face.

I grinned, holding my arms open. "The one and only! How've you been?"

We hugged briefly. When he pulled away, he laughed once in disbelief. "I've been good… Stephan here has helped me with my control recently a lot." He rubbed his head. "What are you doing here?"

I grimaced. "Business. And I heard you were in the area and thought I'd see how you were. You've stayed out of trouble, I see."

He nodded, smiling proudly. "Yep."

I turned to Stephan. He had dark hair, bright red eyes - duh, and was about half a foot taller than me. When he smiled at me, I thought of a movie star posing for cameras. I wondered if maybe he had been one back when he was human, then shook the thought from my mind. I didn't know how loyal Miguel was to him, but I had to be ready for anything. Now, I had to start thinking of them as targets, not people. Targets, nothing, just targets….

We shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Bella. Miguel has told me about your mercy and care. Unusual traits for a Volturi Guard, aren't they?"

I grinned. "Yeah, well, I'm just unusual. They keep me around only because I'm good."

He raised a brow. "Are you now?"

I smiled.

"So, you said you were here on… business, was it?" He raised a brow.

_He's on to me. _I thought. "Yes sir. I think my informant was faulty though. I was searching everywhere before I called you guys and couldn't find my… target anywhere." I shrugged. "Odd, huh?"

"Mmm." He lifted his head slightly as if in a nod, then tried to run. I leapt after him, grabbing the short hairs on the back of his neck and yanking, landing to sit on top of him.

"Where do you think you're going?" I whispered in his ear.

He snarled, twisting and trying to get free. His hand curled tightly around my calf, and he dug in his nails, tearing skin. I hissed and yanked my leg away, making more tears in the process, and slammed his head into the concrete, cracking it. Miguel was standing there, dumb-founded, mouth open. In shock. I stretched my free hand out towards Stephan's left one, straining to get to the ring on his finger.

"You pissed off a psychotic bitch, you know that?" I ground out.

"Who?" he snarled.

"Cate. Changed her and her brother? She went insane with anger. Revenge obsessed. Now she's got me doing her dirty work. Thanks a lot." I ripped his finger away from his hand, ignoring the scream of pain and anger, and shoved it deep into my jacket pocket. Still holding the small hairs on the back of his neck tightly, I reached around to his chin, gripped it, and yanked sharply. With a sickening crack, his neck snapped. I got up, angled it correctly - and easily; it was second-nature to pull like that - and ripped off his head.

"See ya." I muttered, striking a match and dropping it on him. I quickly sidestepped the hungry, engulfing flames. Slowly, prepared for attack, I turned to face Miguel.

He was staring at the flaming remains in abject disbelief. Maybe I could just sneak away….

I didn't get too far before I was tackled. I twisted under him, snarling, and grabbed onto his head to twist it right off his shoulders, but didn't.

"Listen to me, Miguel. You can fight me, and I'll kill you, or we both go our separate ways. Your choice."

"I hate you." he spat. "You constantly kill anyone that I get close to! What is your problem?!"

I glared. "Pick your friends better, than, and I'll not have to do anything to them! But don't expect me to let you live if you're going to try to get me dead for revenge. That's why he-" I jerked my head at the flaming remains. "-is dead now. Cause he pissed someone off enough that they became consumed with revenge. Deranged with it." Sirens were heard from across town. "Either we both leave now, or we're going to be spending unwanted time in prison. _Get_. _Off_." I growled.

Miguel got up, glaring at me. "I'll kill you if I see you again."

I grinned viciously at me. "You'll try, you mean." I turned and ran, not caring about the kid. He wasn't going to do anything, he just wanted to make himself feel like he had no choice but to let me go. Weird guy, just like last time.

I slipped into my car eagerly, ready to break any and all laws to get to Canada, to Edward, to Cate. I occupied my time driving back with varied and creative ways to kill her, each more enjoyable than the last.

Maybe I was more like the Volturi than even I liked to admit.

APOV

I had tired my family by pacing, so I'd borrowed the Mercedes and taken off to the mall, my sanctuary, the only place that had a chance of calming me down in such a situation. Except maybe Jasper's arms, but he had enough on his plate without having to feel my worry and fear on top of his and everyone else's. Shopping was therapeutic almost, and I found some of my tension fading away. The dance was soon, so I had bought a dress for myself, and Bella. She hadn't wanted to go to any, and I'd let her get away with it for now, but it was time she repaid the me for all this worry. She was going to be my Barbie Doll for a night, and she was going to go and have fun with Edward, and that was that.

I was walking through the mall with bags in my hands, when I was hit with a vision so strong, I stumbled before I froze.

_A short girl and a boy who looked almost just like her glanced inside a cabin, seeing Bella tear apart a tall, brutish looking guy. _

_"There goes Felix. Think she'll be that easy on Cate?" whispered the boy._

_"Nah," the girl scoffed. "Cate's in for some torture. And you all say _I'm _evil."_

_The boy shrugged and they watched as the red-head, Victoria, tackled Bella from behind. Edward stood in a corner, untied, face tight as he watched Bella defend herself against the woman. _

_The girl snickered as Cate launched at Bells too._

_"Ouch," muttered the boy with interest as Bella flew into a wall, followed closely by a wood chair. It splintered around her, pieces of it tearing her clothes. _

_Bella lifted her head to glare and hiss angrily at the two women, her eyes the darkest black I'd ever seen, before propelling off the floor into the red-head. _

_The two small kid-looking vampires outside continued to watch with interest until three more came up behind them to peer in. _

_"So, who's who?" asked a girl, looking vaguely interested. _

_"See the one with the brown hair being attacked by the red head and blond?" one of them muttered. "That's Bella. One of the best."_

_The little girl looked over her shoulder and scoffed. "I'm surprised Demetri. Didn't you say Bella would never be one of the best cause she had too many emotions?"_

_The little boy glanced at her. "Jane, Bells may have emotions that can get in the way, but she's still damn good."_

_With a huff, the little Jane girl crossed her arms and peered in. After a moment, she reluctantly said, "Yeah, she is."_

_"Whoa." said Demetri. "Jane admitted Bella was good?"_

_She glared at him and he winced. "Shut it." _

_The tallest of the group, who had long black hair that blended into his cloak, sighed impatiently. "You all act like a bunch of babies." he muttered. "Now. We'll go in once we have a better understanding of the situation. Then we'll either help Isabella as needed, or take her back to Volterra. Now that the Traitors are flushed out, there's no need for her to stay in Forks."_

_Jane, Alec, and Demetri glanced at each other uneasily. _

_"You see, Aro," Demetri started slowly._

_"The thing is…" Alec shifted uncomfortably._

_Jane huffed at them with a roll of her eyes and said efficiently, "Bella has grown remarkably attached to the Cullens, especially the one in there with her, and probably won't leave."_

_Aro glared at them all. "We'll make her. She is coming back to Volterra, whether she wants to, or not."_

_The girl who had asked who was who from earlier looked up. "Is that why you brought me?" she asked._

_Aro grinned. "Yep. Not even Isabella should be able to withstand your power, and if push comes to shove, I'll have my way by force if need be."_

_Alec, Jane and Demetri grimaced at each other and looked back in the window. _

_Under her breath, just loud enough for Alec to hear her, Jane muttered, "I almost feel sorry for her."_

_"Me too, Jane. But there's no way out of it. Aro will kill the Cullen if he has to, all of them, and then drag Bella back to Volterra kicking and screaming and punish her for going against him."_

_Demetri, overhearing them, added, too soft for the others besides those two to hear, "Yeah. But the thing is… he might get some crazy idea of punishing Bella by making her hurt the Cullen. And Bella would rather die, I think, then do that."_

I gasped as I came out of the vision, shocked. The Volturi were going to maybe kill Edward? And the rest of the family? I couldn't let them hurt Jasper… or any of them. There had to be some way to get Bella away from the Volturi that wouldn't involve pain and heartbreak for all involved…. I wondered what would happen if I went there, if there was something I could do to help…?

_Bella embraced Edward tightly, clothes torn, in the middle of the dark street. "Edward… Edward." she kept whispering, over and over. He wrapped his arms around her, eyes closed, nose buried in her hair. _

_"Shh, shh. It's all right now. Everything's fine. She's gone, we're together, and nothing's going to change that."_

_I walked over with my arms tightly around Jasper, who had his arm slung over my shoulder. _

_Bella looked up at me, and I knew if she were still human, tears would be raining down her cheeks. "Thank you Alice. I don't know what I would do without you. If you hadn't been there…."_

_I smiled and hugged her. "What are sisters for?"_

_Jasper re-wrapped his arms around me. "Let's all go home… I think we've been away too long."_

I frowned as I came out of the second vision. Things seemed to be off in it somehow, and that last line Jasper had said was odd… but Bella had said she'd needed me there with her, right? A security guard came up to me, concern on his features.

"Miss? Are you alright?"

I forced a bright smile onto my face and laughed; I doubted her could hear the strained tones in it. "Oh, I'm fine. Just blanked out, you know? A lot on my mind lately…."

He smiled kindly. "Sure. Have a good ay, Miss." He strolled away, and I hurried towards the parking lot. There was only one thing I knew for sure, and that was that I needed to be with Bella and Edward. What Bella had said to me in my vision kept playing through my thoughts. '_I don't know what I would do without you. If you hadn't been there…If you hadn't been there…I don't know what I would do without you…'_

I peeled out of the parking lot, then pulled over short on the side of the road, groaning in irritation. I still didn't know where they were! I focused on Bella, hoping to see something….

_Headlights flashed on a road sign, reading 'Winfeild, British Columbia'. Bella sped up, muttering something under her breath._

I squealed and clapped my hands; now I at least knew where they were! I started driving and about twenty minutes later hit my head in exasperation. I should call Jazzy and let him know where I was going and all I had seen. It may or may not happen, but the two I had seen in the mall had felt strong, like they were almost set in stone.

It went straight to voice mail when I called him, and I figured he had gone hunting like I had suggested to relieve some stress, and left his phone to charge.

"Hey, Jaz, it's me. I was shopping when I had two visions. One, the first, had the Volturi and they were talking about how they were going to get Bella to come back with them, and might end up killing Edward and all of us! I'm going up there to help, cause I saw that if I did, we'd all end up together again happy. They were strong visions, so I'm hoping I'm doing the right thing. But I can't just leave Bella and Edward up there all alone! Oh, and there is someplace near Winfield, British Columbia, I don't know exactly. A cabin, but that's not much help. Still. My phone will be on, call me if you when you get this! I love you." For some reason, a heavy weight settled over me as I said it and I felt close to sick. I repeated it again, my voice softening with the uneasy feeling. "I love you, Jasper."

I hung up slowly, unable to rid myself of the feeling, but not seeing anything concrete when I looked into the future. Biting my lower lip, I sped up. If I was going to reach Bella and Edward in time to help, I'd have to go faster.

BPOV

It was official. I hated cops. They'd pulled me over twice on my way here, and though I could have out-raced them, I hadn't wanted to waste time playing a role for the next high speed chase show. So I'd stopped, laughed with them about my speeding, taken the warning - he hadn't been able to give me at ticket; the uses of being inhumanly beautiful - and gone on my way….

To be stopped a second time. This time, I'd not wasted time playing human, I'd dazzled him, thinking of Edward to try to get the amazing effect he naturally has, and gone on my merry way. After that, I'd avoided as many main roads as possible, which had forced me to take the long way more than once. I didn't know which was worse - having to deal with being constantly pulled over by cops, or taking long ways.

I muttered about cops as I pulled past the sign announcing Winfield, and focused on the roads now so I could find the right turn off. I wasn't going to risk Edward's life on a stupid thing like missing the right turn off and getting lost.

Not for the first time, my hand went to the outside of my jacket pocket to check and see if the finger and its ring - cue shudder - were still there. It was the only proof I had that I had killed Stephan. The ring he had taken from Cate that had belonged to her grandfather was probably be the only thing to convince her I had really killed the dude.

I glared as I turned onto the side road and didn't slow until I had reached just before the cabin. The tires screeched as I stepped out, slamming the door behind myself.

It was on. Cate was going to die, painfully, excruciatingly, and thoroughly.

**There is is. Hope you all enjoyed!! Thanks for reading, please review!**


	20. Ch 20 Fogetting Love and Pain

**Okay... here it is. The grand enchilada. The chapter the top all chapters. The last chapter of Dusk. The poll is closed, and if you can't figure out by the end of this chapter the outcome, gosh you're slow. ;) The results, if you so feel compelled, will be available for viewing. I can't thank you all enough for reading and extra special thanks to my reviewers! I loves you all so much!! I hope I did not disappoint, though I know... well, I can't say, cause it'll spoil the outcome. I worked extra hard on this, because I only want to satisfy. Also! My friend General Panda, aka flowers (if you read Memories, you'll recognize her as the one who suggested the pretend kill thing) helped me plan this, cause she is my Muse and she effin rocks. So in your reviews, send thanks to her too please!**

I grunted as both Cate and Felix slammed into me as I walked in the room, effectively pinning me to the wall. This is why I hated working against people who knew how the Guard fought; they used it against you. Victoria was running her fingers against _my_ Edward, whispering to him so softly I couldn't hear her. No, wait; I frowned. She wasn't simply whispering _to _him, she was whispering _with _him.

Cate brought my attention back to her. "Did you do as I wanted, Bellsie?"

I rolled my eyes. "If you'd check the pocket of my jacket, you'd find yourself a finger and ring. You're welcome." I added sarcastically as she let me go and pulled the finger out, turning it over in her hands and staring intently at it. I half expected her to start petting it and calling it "My precious." My lips quirked at the ridiculous, slightly morbid thought.

Cate suddenly pounced onto me. Her grin was maniacal, her eyes filled with insane light. "Time for my revenge, Bellsie… on you."

With a grimace, I muttered, "I was afraid of that."

Back when I'd first shown up, Heidi had explained something to me about before I'd been brought into the group. Cate had fought a vampire for three weeks, never stopping, and when they'd finally found her, she'd been sitting in the grass, knees pulled up to her chest, rocking and watching the flames while babbling incoherently. She'd never told anyone about what had happened, but slowly, she'd seemed to come out of her mindless state. She had been different after that, easily angered, erratic and irrational. After a couple missions in which she nearly got them killed or exposed, Aro, Marcus, and Caius kicked her off of the Guard, demoting her to more indoor work. I had, pretty much, filled in the space she used to occupy in the Guard. She was never allowed to go anywhere alone. It wasn't until recently that she had been deemed progressive enough to be allowed out for short trips, and the trip out with me was the first long-distance one.

She glared, livid, at me. "You replaced me! It's your fault I was kicked off the Guard!"

I rolled my eyes - inwardly; I didn't want my head ripped off - and tried to speak soothingly. "Cate, I didn't-"

"Liar!" she screeched, and, taking me by surprise, used her power to throw me across the room. I crashed into a wall, and then she and Felix were on top of me, hitting, biting, scratching. I fought back as best I could, but two Volturi-trained older vamps against me was hard odds to beat. I was tossed through another wall, when Victoria joined in the fray. She leaned close to me and whispered in my ear.

"Eddie's decided he likes me more, Isabella. Mate for a mate." she ended in a soft chant.

I growled loudly and pounced on her. Fury does wonders for fighting; it can make one so much stronger than normal. I managed to get both Cate and Victoria away from me long enough to tackle Felix and then it was only a few moments until I managed to rip off his head. I grinned as I did it, viciously enjoying dispatching the person who had betrayed me and Aaron; at least, the who had didn't have insanity as an excuse. Now if only I had my iPod, it'd pretty much be like any other job.

Someone tackled me from behind, causing us to crash into the floor and go rolling. I twisted and tangled with Victoria, each trying to get and retain the upper hand. Cate jumped into the fray, her insanity making her unpredictable. I was lifted into the air by her and thrown into one of the still-intact walls; Victoria sent a chair after me almost instantly. The splinters fell around me, tearing the clothes. Alice wasn't going to like that very much.

Victoria cackled. "Give it up Isabella. You've already lost… the boy chose _me_."

I lifted my head to glare at them, all restraint and logic flying out the metaphorical window. A low, climbing growl worked it's way up my chest and throat, getting louder and louder, and I flew at the red-headed, soon-to-be-dead, bitch. I got her by surprise, and she fell under my assault. Cate joined in again, and I fought back without any inhibitions. I yanked my nails, claw like, down the side of Cate's face, bite deep into Victoria's shoulder, kneed one of them in the stomach. It soon became an overwhelming tussle of keeping alive longer than the others. Edward wasn't helping at all, just standing there, and I knew it was of his own free will because he kept shifting. But I didn't have any spare brain power to ponder this; I was too absorbed with killing the two psychos fighting me. Abruptly, I threw Victoria threw the wall so hard that she went crashing through the foliage outside and disappeared from view. I didn't break stride or pause, and twisted back around to jump onto Cate's back. I grabbed her hair in one hand and positioned her head so that I could easily rip it off.

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, I cruelly crooned, "It seems to me you're having trouble keeping your head on straight. Let me help you with that." I yanked with extra force, toppling off of her and landing on my back on the ground, her head in my hands.

Victoria burst into the room from the back, but whipped around almost instantly, hissing. I rose into a crouch, dropping the head onto the floor where it rolled away somewhat. Alec and Demetri came in behind her, crouched in fighting stances. Aro, Jane, and someone I didn't recognize came in from the front. I stood upright from my own crouch, but I stayed tense and ready.

"Hey, Jane, that bitch over there has your phone," I stated conversationally, jerking my head towards Victoria.

Jane's eyes narrowed, and focused in on Victoria. A loud scream, pain-filled, echoed through the small cabin, and I saw from the corner of my eye Edward flinch. Jane floated over to where Victoria was kneeling on the floor, hands clutching her head tightly and curled in on herself. She reached into a pocket of Victoria's pants, withdrew her phone, and skipped back over to us. Victoria's screams stopped, but she was panting.

"Thanks, Bella," Jane chirped, sending a smile my way.

I grinned back at her. "Oh trust me. It was my pleasure." Anything to hurt Victoria.

Aro stepped forward. "Demetri and Alec will dispose of the woman. Follow us Bella and we'll take you back to Volterra."

I tensed. "No." I stated quietly.

His eyes narrowed. "What?"

I shook my head, taking a slow step back. "I'm not going back, Aro. I want to stay here, with the Cullens."

He frowned, now, dangerously. "Isabella. You _will_ come back to Volterra, if we have to force you to."

I laughed, scoffing. "I've just killed two of your Guard. Felix was the easier of the two, and he was actually sane still, unlike Cate. Do you really think I can't take on these folks?"

A slow, evil grin spread across his face and I felt my stomach drop in fear. "Well, you see Isabella, I have a way of getting you to come with us without violence." The girl I didn't know stepped forward after getting a nod of approval from Aro. Everyone else's faces were blank.

Edward's growl filled the room, and he glared at Aro and the girl, daring them without words to come closer. The girl faltered, looking uneasy. Obviously a newbie, I thought.

I stepped quickly away from the three closest to me, then sidestepped away from the other two and closer to Edward. He moved closer to me, now willing to help. I couldn't help the spark of annoyance at that, and glanced accusingly over my shoulder. A grimace twisted across his face as he met my gaze, and I could see the apology in his golden eyes. Biting my lip, I decided he must have had a good reason, and briefly nodded my acceptance, making his eyes soften and light up in tenderness. I had to look away before it sucked me in and distracted me from the situation at hand.

Aro came forward. "Are you defying me, Isabella?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Aro," I sighed in exasperation. "I'm defying you. Just let me live my life now."

His eyes turned black with anger. "And you're leaving us for…_this?!_" he asked in disgust, gesturing wildly at Edward.

I growled angrily. "I'm leaving your 'traditional' way of life, Aro. Yes. I prefer their way."

His face scrunched.

I tilted my head. "You're friends with Carlisle, aren't you? Please, Aro. You know that it'll save you plenty of headaches, and it looks like you've already got a replacement." I was trying to make him see my way, while also trying to distract him from the fact that I was leaving. I just had to make him think it was his idea to let me stay.

Oddly enough, he was exceedingly determined. "Are you sure it isn't because you've gotten closer to him? If so, I can take care of the problem."

A shiver ran down my spine. "No," I scoffed. Again, thank you, Marcus, for those lessons. "I simply prefer their way of feeding from animals."

Aro tilted his head. "Yes. Well, you see, Isabella," he said slowly. "I don't believe you." He paused and I felt fear flutter at the edges of my chest. "So I'm removing the problem."

I snarled and moved protectively in front of Edward. "No. I refuse to let you kill him."

Aro rolled his eyes. "Well," he snapped. "That's just not for you to decide."

I straightened. "Fine. I'll come with you, as long as you swear he can live."

After a moment of consideration, Aro nodded once. "Fine. Now come."

My jaw tightened. "I'm not a newborn anymore, Aro. Swear it. Now."

With a few mutters of annoyance, Aro said, "I swear on my existence and of the position I hold, the boy will not be killed."

"Or any of the Cullens." I added sharply.

With a roll of his eyes, he added, "Or any of the Cullen family."

I nodded, and turned to Edward. "Told you I couldn't stick around," I said quietly, trying to keep my voice light but failing.

Edward leaned close, brushing hair from my ear, and, making me shiver, breathed into it, "I'm not letting you go, Bella."

I was shaking, unable to hold back the pain rippling through me at the thought of leaving him. I wouldn't be able to live without him, and it was ridiculous. I still barely knew him, and I needed him more than anything. He was my drug, my oxygen, my life-giving substance. Without him, I would die as surely as being set on fire.

Aro came over and grabbed my arm, pulling me over to him. I didn't fight him, though my heart was screaming at me to go back to Edward. Edward himself looked like he wanted to come closer, but knew it would be a bad idea. Breathing was already getting difficult and I was still in the same room as him.

"Hmm." Aro mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. I could tell, though, that he had already made up his mind about whatever he was pretending to think about. He turned to face Victoria. "You. I will let you go on one condition."

"I'm listening." she said slowly.

Aro grinned. "You take him with you and never let him near Isabella again."

I gave a shout of outrage, and Edward stiffened and growled lowly.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I won't be able to keep him away." she scoffed.

Aro just grinned some more, and I was starting to get worried, and annoyed. "Ha ha, don't worry. He won't remember her."

I faced Aro sharply and stared at him. "What are you talking about Aro?"

He laughed again, that fake, unnerving laugh that itched uncomfortably against my skin. "June. Demonstrate. Use the boy there."

She stepped forward, looking slightly self-conscious, and then focused on Edward. Her eyes blazed into a bright, odd red-violet color, locking onto Edward's. His golden gaze widened, and he tensed, his jaw clenching, yet seemed unable to look away.

"Edward?" I whispered, uneasy.

He didn't say anything, just seemed to stand there. The June girl slumped and stepped away. "What do you want me to do, Aro?"

Aro grinned like a child on Christmas. "Hmm. Let's see. Make him think he left the family recently, or something, and that he joined up with Victoria. Whatever it takes for him to not go back. He can't be remembering our Bella here, can he?"

"No!" I screamed, and started toward her, with deadly intent, when the other three Volturi all tackled me, holding me down. "No!" I screamed again, only this time it was closer to a sob. Aro was going to make my Edward forget me, and not only that. He was sending him away with Victoria, turning him into the monster Edward always thought he was. He would kill people, like he had all those years ago during his 'rebellious stage', and feel incredible guilt. He'd see himself as a monster again. I watched helplessly as the June girl nodded and turned back to face him.

Her eyes blazed even more this time, closer to a violet than a red, and Aro conversationally started talking to me.

"You see, Isabella, June here has the remarkable gift of forgetfulness. She can make people forget things as easily as thinking. The only problem is it drains her physically, not to mention the person she's working on. Depending on how much work she has to do, she may or may not pass out. We're still learning about her power, though."

I glared at him, but refused to talk. Instead, I watched helplessly as Edward's eyes turned black, and then he abruptly dropped. I screamed.

Alec spoke quietly. "That's supposed to happen. The strain on the mind... Bella?" he added, questioning and concerned.

I was limp in their hold. I wasn't even bothering to breathe anymore. Edward... wouldn't... remember me…? It would be as if I never existed. The thought hurt, perhaps because I'd always known that Edward would have to move on from me at some point. I'd just always thought it would be through his own choice, or that we'd both have a say in what happened. But this gave him no choice, was against his will. This though, was far worse, far more painful. Because with this, he wouldn't even know I existed.

Then again… I was no longer willing to exist without him, so it might as well not matter.

Alice burst into the room from the front, eyes wide as she took everything in. Only a faint stirring of surprise reached me; I was too numb to care anymore. Edward and I were never going to see each other again; he wouldn't even remember me.

I could hear the commotion, but none of the noises made sense; everything seemed too far away for me to care.

Then Alice was crouched down near me. "Bella," she said gently, placing her hand on my shoulder. "I-" Her voice broke, and she paused a moment. "I'm sorry I didn't get here in time."

I stared at her, blankly, feeling more dead inside than I ever had before. I think if I had still been alive, my heart might have just stopped on it's own.

Aro came over. "So. It's your choice, Alice. Be with us, or die."

I turned my look to Aro. He was a jerk, yet I couldn't rustle up any emotion for the thought; at least, not like it deserved. It just seemed like too much of an effort.

Alice sniffed, and I knew she was going to say something painful. "I… I'll join you."

Aro smiled cruelly, then nodded to June.

June was paler than normal even for a vampire, and dark circles were under her eyes, which had darkened after playing mind-games with Edward. Again, they blazed to that odd violet-red, then she asked Aro for directions.

He shrugged, then stepped over to Alice and touched her hand. He pulled away, saying, "Just make her forget everything. It'll be no use to try to erase only parts, and simpler for all if she simply had no memories."

June nodded, looking reluctant, and faced Alice again. I watched as my almost-sister fell unconscious to the floor too.

Jane glanced over at me, then at June. "I forgot. How long are they going to be like this? Cause I'm not carrying pixie-girl here all the way home."

June shrugged. "No more than two hours or so. It depends on what I did to them, I think." She glanced at everyone apologetically. "I'm still learning."

Aro seemed much more cheerful now. "So. Now that everything's worked out, I'm going to deliver the terrible news to Carlisle." He turned and glided out the door, June following him after her waved his hand to let her know she was with him. "Oh, and Victoria? Let's work out the details of our agreement, shall we?" Victoria smirked at me and winked as she followed them out.

Demetri knelt down near me. "Bells… here." he sighed, grabbing my hand and helping me up. I stared blankly ahead of me. They tried to lead me out, but I suddenly had the masochistic urge to go to Edward, one last time.

I yanked away, surprising them, and ignored the calls for me to come over. Instead, I dropped down next him, and brushed a lock of bronze from his eyes. My fingers trembled, and I traced them across each and every one of his features, trying to memorize them. Slowly, I leaned down and gently pressed my lips to his, for the last time. I swallowed a dry sob, and whispered, "I'll love you for eternity." Then I finally broke down into huge, gut-wrenching, dry sobs.

Two pairs of arms lifted me up, and I was swung into one of them and moving. I wished I could cry. Everything would be so much more satisfying if I could cry. Crying was a form of release, of healing. The tears were a person's way of showing their pain, grief, and sadness in a physical form, letting it all manifest and remove itself from their system. Without tears, crying was simply gasping for air, pain exploding in one's chest, swollen throat and blocking out of one's surroundings. It was only half of a release; one couldn't fully heal without tears.

I was placed into the black leather interior of a car, on the back seat. Jane sat next to me, and Alec hopped in the driver's seat. Demetri was obviously in another car.

The silliest thought crossed my mind… Wasn't he no longer allowed to drive? After the first time?

It was odd what one's mind did to try to distract from the pain. A hole had begun ripping its place into my chest, yet I was busy thinking of how I'd probably end up sharing my Volterra room with Alice. Now that Heidi was dead - did anyone but me know about that yet? - someone else would have to be bait. Alice would probably manage to make anyone able to do it, with her amazing shopping and make-over skills. I'd no longer be able to escape her if I was going to be living with her. Thank gods Aro, Marcus, and Caius limited all of our time off duty. Only, wouldn't that make her craze to shop worse when she finally was able to? I supposed I'd have to start drinking humans again. And I was just getting the hang of animal hunting… I really agreed with Edward, the mountain lions are good. And Emmett had promised to take me out for grizzlies the next time we went because "those house cats are nothing once you get some bear in you".

I wrapped my arms around my midsection, getting two curious looks for that. I ignored them and rested my head against my knees.

The pain swelled up, lapped at the edges of my mind, and then overwhelmed me. I didn't fight it; I didn't want to resurface.

_**(Okay, so, I wasn't sure just how to do this last part. I thought of doing it in Jasper's POV, then of Carlisle's, and I briefly entertained the idea of doing Aro before throwing that out the metaphorical window. So, I finally decided on a simple easy 3rd person POV. Hope it's not too bad. -winces- Here goes…)**_

Aro walked up the steps to the Cullen house, then knocked once on the door. A big huge man, larger than Felix, even, yanked the door open, almost off its hinges. At first, he looked worried, frantic even, but then his expression blanked. He looked Aro and June up and down, raising a brow.

"Yeah?" he asked, not moving to let them in or open the door more.

Aro straightened importantly. "I'm here to see Carlisle. I have some urgent news."

The big guy raised his other brow, and glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, Carlisle!" he yelled. "Some old vampire with a black cape is here to see you!"

Moments later, Carlisle appeared next to the big guy, looking uneasy and worried. "Thank you, Emmett." he murmured.

Emmett shrugged, and went inside the large space. Carlisle returned to facing Aro.

"Aro. What a surprise. What are you doing here?"

Aro kept his grave face, not blinking. "I'm afraid I have some rather bad news, my old friend. May we come in?"

Carlisle sighed and nodded, stepping aside. Aro and June walked in, June almost cowering behind Aro at the looks, that were so blank, they were almost hostile, that she and Aro were getting from almost all the vampires in the room. Oddly enough, their eyes were gold. She'd noticed this on the two who's memories she'd screwed up, and wondered at it, but hadn't thought to ask. Bella's had been an odd mix of red and gold, the gold an odd almost orange-tinted color with flecks of red peppering it. She felt a spasm of guilt. She'd thought, at the time, she was only ruining the two lives of Edward and Bella, then she'd had to mess with that Alice girl. And now she fully realized that they had a huge family. One of these was probably the mate of the Alice girl, since it was obvious Bella and Edward were - or had been - together. Her guilt increased ten-fold, and a tall, leonine, blond vampire looked at her oddly.

Aro sighed, and bowed his head. June kept her eyes averted from everyone in guilt.

"Carlisle, we have some… tragic news. I believe you were aware that two of your family were missing?"

"They went to help Bella." said the blond female.

Aro nodded. "Well… all three of them were dead when we got there. We were hoping to save them; we'd only just figured out about Cate and Felix betraying all of us by giving away information to Victoria. Unfortunately we were too late to do more than kill those three."

June kept her eyes averted still, but felt sharp surprise. Aro sounded so convincing… she wondered how he was able to simply come up with a lie that quickly.

Outbursts from the Cullens came a moment later, ranging from disbelief, to pain, to anger. Emmett rose up and took a step toward them, and June fought the instinct to step back. The blond female stood too and wrapped her arms around him, falling into tearless sobs. Emmett wrapped his arms around her, the furious look fading from his eyes to one of pain and concern.

"Oh, Rosalie. Rose, baby, shh." he comforted her, rubbing her back with his large hand, though he was obviously in a lot of pain himself.

A woman with a heart-shaped face and caramel hair broke into quiet sobs, curling into Carlisle's side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her there, his own face strained.

The other blond was quiet, face frighteningly blank, unpredictable.

"Are you sure?" Carlisle asked quietly, his own voice strained with his emotions.

Aro nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, my friend. If there's anything I can do…"

Carlisle shook his head, and wrapped his other arm around his wife. The last Cullen member, the one who hadn't yet shown any sign of hearing the news, rose and came towards them, yet kept his distance.

"I think you should go now." His tone was cold, and for a moment, June felt panic. It seemed like he knew the truth. Even Aro faltered briefly, a flickering of uncertainty shooting through him. But he hardened himself, reminding himself that this was probably the one related to Alice, who could read and affect emotions, and tried to feel nothing but sincerity as he said, "I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

He walked out the door, towards the car, leaving the Cullens behind.

Jasper watched them drive away from the doorway of the house.

It was two weeks later, and in Volterra that Bella managed to finally move of her own free will. She'd been lying in her bed, not moving, not blinking, not doing anything since they'd arrived. Even Alice couldn't get her to do anything. June's mind mess-up, as everyone called it, had worked, and Alice remembered nothing of her time with the Cullens. She had never remembered her human life in the first place, so it simply felt like to her that she woke up the way she was. She was still rather perky, but even she couldn't get Bella to do anything, and intuitively Alice knew not to try to push her.

But now Bella was moving. She rose, her clothes wrinkled and twisted, and walked right out of the room. She resembled a zombie, mindless except for a single purpose. Silently, she floated down the hall, her arms still tightly wrapped around herself, and turned into one of the rooms with an open door without knocking.

June looked up in surprise, then a slight fear. She didn't know what Bella was thinking, or if she would hurt her for what she did.

"Bella," she began quickly, tripping over her words, "I'm sorry, I had-"

"I know." Bella rasped, her unused voice weak. "I get it. You were following orders." She kept her voice quiet, not wanting to be heard, but also simply not willing to speak any louder. "But I need you to do something for me. A favor, if you will."

"What?" June asked, surprised.

A half-grin, grim, flickered briefly over Bella's full lips before seriousness and pain overtook it again. "Just promise me you'll do as I ask. It won't get you in trouble, I swear," she added, shaking her head.

"Okay." June said slowly, curiously. "I promise. Now what is it?"

Bella glanced at the floor for a moment, not saying anything. When she looked up again, her eyes were full of unbridled pain, nothing held back. June gasped in surprise and almost-fear at the look in the other girl's eyes. She'd never seen anyone in so much pain. Except… the Cullens when they heard the news. But there was something different in Bella's. It was similar to the silent blond male's, only his had seemed less… doomed. Bella seemed like she was being killed, over and over, and viciously painfully.

"Make me forget. Please." When June didn't say anything, Bella continued, quickly, begging. "Please, June. You don't know what it's like. I feel like I'm being torn apart, and nothing can stop it, and I can't stop thinking about him, and our time together, and how short it was, and how I fell so hard for him so quickly, and how he can't even remember that I exist in this world, how he can't care, because he doesn't know." He voice was thick, like with tears, though she of course couldn't shed any. "And I can't stand it anymore. If I have to go through another minute of this pain, I'll go crazy. I just can't take it. I want to forget… I won't be able to do anything, live with myself, if I'm forced to remember every time I see Alice that the Cullens will never know what really happened. That Jasper is going to always think his Alice died. That Esme is going to believe that two, or maybe three, of her children are dead. I won't be able to live knowing Edward is going to think of himself as a monster more than ever, and that it's all my fault. I can't take it. Not knowing all I know. Please, June. Just make me forget."

June swallowed, feeling like crying herself, Bella's speech was so heart-felt and emotional. So stirring. "But, Bella… your power stops…"

Bella shook her head quickly. "I think, if I let you, if I _want _you to… you can. Even though no mind-power works on me. And, June, I really, really _want this_."

June swallowed again, closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them. And nodded.

Relief crashed through Bella's features, temporarily lightening the zombie look. "Thank you." she breathed, sounding so grateful. June fought back the grief, guilt, and sorrow she felt knowing that she had brought Bella - who's strength, both inner and psychical, she had heard about from the others, who spoke with respect and almost pride - to this.

She met Bella's pitch-black, desperate and hollow eyes. Strain and exhaustion started sweeping over her, and June began to wonder if it was actually going to work.

Moments later, Bella hit the floor in a dead faint.

Aro, Jane, and Demetri rushed into the room.

"What happened?" Aro demanded, looking from June to Bella's prone figure on the floor. June scrambled for an explanation. For some reason, she doubted Aro would like knowing Bella asked her to do this.

"She attacked me," she said frantically. "I guess she was distracted enough, cause I managed to get into her mind. I had to make her forget why she wanted to attack me. She's not going to remember anything about the Cullens. She might remember going to Forks, but that's it."

Aro blinked, then shrugged. "Oh well. It's probably better this way. She won't have any reason to hate me more than she did before leaving." He swept from the room, adding, "I'm off to finish taking over MySpace now."

Jane and Demetri gave her pointed looks, just as Alec walked in, smirking.

"Don't bother lying to me," he said, "Cause I was next door and heard her ask."

"So Bella asked you to make her forget." Jane stated.

June nodded. Demetri sighed. "I expected her to do as much. She was truly crushed."

Jane sighed. "I actually feet sorry for her. She must have truly loved him."

Alec sighed. "Marcus would have been able to tell. I think he's the only one of those three with anything like compassion."

Demetri snorted. "And that's only because he can sense relationships."

The four were quiet for a moment, so they heard Aro from some ways away yell, "Dammit, Cathy, why won't you add me to your friends list?!"

Jane looked at Alec. "I blame you." she stated monotonously, and swept from the room.

Demetri sighed and picked up Bella. "I'll take her to her room." He left too. June turned back to her bed, and picked up the book she had been reading.

Alec made to follow Jane. "Why do you blame me?" he asked, almost whined.

Jane snorted. "It's like Bella pointed out when her, Heidi, and Aaron reported in that one time - you were the one constantly going on and on about the internet. Thus, I blame you." He stopped as she continued down the hall, dark gray cloak swaying. Suddenly, she paused and glanced at him over her shoulder. "By the way… that makes it your problem to deal with." She turned back around, calling over her shoulder, "Good luck getting him to that meeting tomorrow."

Alec groaned under his breath. "Great. Bella's heart-broken, and no longer knows it; we've got a psychic pixie running around changing everyone's wardrobes; Aro's obsessed with conquering MySpace; there's a problem with exposure going on in Brazil; there's a chance of the Cullens figuring out we lied to them about their family members' deaths, which would mean big trouble for us; and everyone expects me to manage to get Aro away from the internet and live. Volterra can really, really suck."

**...The end? **

**Review, please. I know ya'all hate me more than words can express right now, but hey! It was really fun to write... and it tests my skills... and - -_cringes away from mob/mafia-sent-hitmen/Weapons of Mass Destruction/angry reviewers -_  
**

**Geesh there's a sequel, people! You all know what that means! (honestly, I can't leave them unhappy FORVER... I'd cry too hard.) It might take me a week or two, but the sequel will be coming as soon as I can get it out. Don't panic. Or die from withdrawl. That'd be bad. You wouldn't know what happens... okay. I'm done begging for my life now. REVIEW!**


	21. IT'S FINALLY HERE!

**Hey my readers! I've finally put up the sequel - it's just a simple first chapter, not much - and it's probably a good thing. I think I heard whispers of a mob visiting my house soon. ;)**

**So. Go find it, if you haven't already gotten the alert for it. It's called A Neverending Night of Sorrow (Sorrow for short; that's what I'll call it), which took me forever to come up with. XP But I have high hopes for this, and it's my first actual sequel, so I hope it's not too terrible... anyways! Thanks again to all my reviewers and readers! You guys are fantabulous!**


End file.
